Dangerous Highways Focus Of Meeting In Joliet
(WBBM Newsradio) -- An activist group is hoping a community town hall meeting Thursday night in Joliet will add a sense of urgency to dangerous highway conditions.
The group "Residents United for Safer Highways" is hosting the meeting, which will feature a number of elected and state highway officials. One of their requests is the widening of Interstate 80 from Rt. 30 in New Lenox to River Road in Minooka.
"Over the last number of years, we've had way too many disastrous accidents," Will County Executive Larry Walsh tells WBBM Newsradio's Andy Dahn.
The group would also like to see changes near the Des Plaines River at I-80 and I-55.
"A number of bridges over the river need to be replaced," Walsh said. "The roads need to be widened."
Walsh said everyone wants to make the roads safer, but the work could cost over $1 billion.
"There's an issue out there of need, but there's also an issue out there of not having any funding. Neither the U.S. federal government or the state of Illinois has the revenue to help us out."
The meeting is being held at the University of St. Francis.
