Will County Board members voted Thursday to remove the controversial 143rd Street road widening project from the county’s five-year transportation plan, but actually stopping the project from advancing will require a separate vote, the county’s attorney said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Tatroe said the county’s transportation director is required by law to submit the county’s projects to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

For decades, the transportation director has asked the County Board to approve the five-year transportation plan as a courtesy, but it is not required, Tatroe said.

In order to prevent the widening project, the board would need to take action another meeting to rescind the project, she said.

Tatroe’s comments frustrated several County Board members who had a lengthy discussion on the merits of the 143rd Street project before voting 13-9 to remove it from the transportation plan.

County Transportation Director Jeff Ronaldson said the plan is a snapshot of what county road projects are being discussed, what phase they are in, how much they will cost and how they are to be funded.

Even though the board tried to remove 143rd Street, it will still be included in the documents he must produce to IDOT because contracts for the projects already exist. If the scope of the project changes in a future vote, it would be reflected in next year’s transportation plan, Ronaldson said.

The project consists of widening the two-lane road to five lanes from State Street/Lemont Road to Bell Road. A $7 million federal grant must be used for the project as designed, Ronaldson said.

Residents in the Homer area have protested the widening for nearly two years, which they say would increase traffic, including semi-trucks, add noise and pollution, seize property and disrupt the community’s rural feel.

Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said she hopes the County Board members revisit the project. Possible solutions could be a third lane, or center lane, that would be more appealing than the five-lane road as planned, she said.

Neitzke-Troike said it was a step in the right direction for the County Board to try to remove the project from the transportation plan and said it’s a nonpartisan issue that needs more study.

Predictions the county made when starting engineering on the road back in 2009 have not come true, Neitzke-Troike said. The road is surrounded by mostly residential and agricultural zoned land, and it did not develop into a commercial corridor as expected.

Updated studies are needed, she said, noting an accident report for 2013-2017 showed there were 202 accidents, but nearby 159th Street was under construction and drivers were using 143rd Street more as a detour.

Population predictions also didn’t come true, Neitzke-Troike said. She said in 2005, the county’s population was expected to reach 1.1 million people by 2030, but is sitting at nearly 703,000 now.

Homer Glen’s population was expected to reach 45,000 residents, but has been stable at 24,000, Neitzke-Troike said. If the project were initiated today, it would likely be denied, she said.

“Someone should have noticed the earlier on predictions were getting further and further from reality,” she said.

Homer Glen has also been voted one of Illinois’s safest communities, and a widened road with easier access to the highway will attract more crime, Neitzke-Troike said.

County Board members asked how much community leaders’ and residents’ input is considered when making decisions.

Board member Dan Butler, a Frankfort Republican, said Homer Glen prides itself on being an International Dark Sky Community, which recognizes the steps the village has taken to preserve the nighttime sky.

“They don’t want their neighborhood changed,” Butler said.

Jim Richmond, the board’s Republican Leader from Mokena, said Will County government should work better with townships and municipalities. He said residents don’t want the road closer to their backyards.

“We are going from a road to a highway,” Richmond said.

Board member Steve Balich, a Homer Glen Republican, said the widened road will be “a huge hardship.”

“The people don’t want it,” Balich said. “It’s an expressway, a big giant expressway.”

Ronaldson said a similar amount of land would need to be taken if a third lane were approved. Traffic counts for 143rd Street have risen even after IDOT expanded the nearby 159th Street, he said.

Canceling the project would amount to throwing away $6 million already invested as well as a $7 million federal grant, Ronaldson said.

Because the County Board was not required to approve the five-year transportation plan, it removed it from the agenda.

The transportation plan notes the county is expected to spend about $756.2 million in the next five years on corridor, bridge and intersection improvements and general maintenance. The county’s road system includes 258 miles of roads and 87 bridges.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.