Landowner's effort falls short
By Vinde Wells - Editor
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| A bulldozer belonging to Homer Tree Service, Lockport, moves behind one of the mature trees removed along Ill. 2 north of Oregon last week. Photo by Earleen Hinton |
True to her word, Oregon resident Sue Herrod did her best Feb. 25 to get the message out that she doesn’t believe some Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) officials can be trusted.
At IDOT’s open house about the Ill. 2 construction project, Herrod came armed with photos and a detailed account of her battle with the state agency.
She gave her handouts to everyone who asked.
Herrod had said earlier in the week that she planned to attend the open house, even though her cause was already lost.
“I know it’s too late, but I plan to be there anyway,” she said.
Months of making phones calls, writing letters, and circulating a petition to preserve the scenic view from her front window proved fruitless for Herrod, who lives on Ill. 2 across the Rock River from the Black Hawk statue.
She spent hours contacting state lawmakers, ComEd officials, and Illinois Department of Transportation officials in an effort to stop a plan to erect utility poles in front of her home.
She and her neighbors collected signatures on a petition with the same purpose.
Their efforts did not produce the desired result — the electric poles went up anyway.
ComEd crews installed the pole in front of Herrod’s house on Feb. 15.
“They tried to do it the Saturday before (Feb. 13), but I wouldn’t let them. They came back on Monday when I was at work,” Herrod said. “I’m glad I wasn’t home to see the pole going in.”
The issue of the poles came up as a result of IDOT plans to widen Ill. 2 and add turn lanes from Fair Street in Oregon to Byron. The project will be done in two phases with the first phase — from Fair Street to Stronghold — already underway.
Widening the road requires that the electric service, which is currently underground, be moved back.
Herrod and her neighbors were vocal in their opposition to the poles saying the poles will mar their now perfect view of the river and famous statue.
IDOT project support engineer Brian Mayer said in December that the cost is a factor in ComEd’s decision to put the wires above ground rather than underground when they relocate the service for the road construction project.
He said it would have cost an estimated $330,000 more to put the service underground.
She said IDOT officials have told her they did not realize the electric service was underground, and made no cost allowance for keeping it there.
“IDOT blames ComEd, and ComEd blames IDOT,” she said. “IDOT says they didn’t know — then they should have fought for us.”
Some state and local officials were supportive of Herrod’s cause.
She said State Rep. Jerry Mitchell (R-Rock Falls) and his legislative assistant Robbin Blackert met with IDOT and ComEd officials in an effort to keep the electric service underground.
Oregon Mayor Tom Stone offered a solution, too — placing the wires underground along Ill. 2 when the city extends a sewer main from the Fairgrounds Subdivision to Stillman Bank as part of the construction project. That plan was rejected.
Herrod said she was disappointed that Gov. Pat Quinn failed to answer her two appeals to him.
“He didn’t even respond,” she said.
Herrod said she is disillusioned with IDOT and doesn’t believe some of its officials were honest with her and her neighbors.
She said she was told by one IDOT official that before the poles were put up, a meeting would be held with the affected homeowners. But that meeting never happened.
