Will County News

State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, who represents the Illinois State Senate District 49, will host an info night on the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, on October 2, 2013 in Plainfield. State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant represents the 49th Illinois State Senate District Please see the press release below from Bertino-Tarrant's office for event details: "PLAINFIELD  – Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood) will be hosting a free informational seminar on the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect families, seniors and individuals on  October 2, 2013 from 6-7:30 p.m . at the Edward Plainfield Outpatient Center. AJ Wilhelmi, former State Senator and Chief Governmental Relations Officer for the Illinois Hospital Association, will be presenting at the event. “As we move closer to ACA implementation, many people are calling my office with questions about concerns such as pre-existing conditions, the effect on Medicare and even ...

Joliet Junior College Culinary Arts Professors demonstrate cooking with fresh ingredients at the JJC Farmers' Market By Ann Baskerville A $92,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Farmers' Market Promotion Program has allowed Joliet Junior College to create a weekly farmers' market on its campus.  According to the USDA website, the Farmer's Market Promotion Program: "o ffers grants to help improve and expand domestic farmers’ markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agri-tourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Agricultural cooperatives, producer networks, producer associations, local governments, nonprofit corporations, public benefit corporations, economic development corporations, regional farmers’ market authorities and Tribal governments are among those eligible to apply. The maximum amount awarded for any one proposal cannot exceed $100,000. Over $9 million i...

CMAP--The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning--has released public comment CMAP received regarding the proposed Illiana Expressway. CMAP received 965 comments on the Illiana.  169 comments supported including the Illiana Expressway in CMAP's GOTO2040 plan.  796 comments were opposed to the Illiana Expressway being included by CMAP in the GOTO2040 plan. Read all public comments submitted to CMAP here (this is a large document and will take a few minutes to load).

According to the group No Illiana For Us, representatives from the Illinois Department of Transportation and consultants working on the Illiana Corridor Study will attend the Tuesday, August 6 Will Township Board meeting at 7 p.m..  The Will Township building is located at 30317 South Will-Center Road in Peotone.

UPDATE: Maps and interchange drawings from the August 6, 2013 meeting at Will Township: At the June 2013 Illiana Corridor Public Meeting in Peotone, study team members presented a map showing which roads crossed by the Illiana B3 are under consideration for closure: Legend for B3 Illiana Expressway Map of How Roads will be affected by the B3, including roads under consideration for closure Map of possible road closures along the B3 route for the Illiana Expressway Map of possible road closures along the B3 route for the Illiana Expressway Map of possible road closures along the B3 route for the Illiana Expressway Map of possible road closures along the B3 route for the Illiana Expressway Map of possible road closures along the B3 route for the Illiana Expressway  Map of possible road closures along the B3 route for the Illiana Expressway Map of possible road closures along the B3 route for the Illiana Expressway Map of possible road cl...

There will be an Illiana Expressway meeting tonight--June 18, 2013--in Peotone at Peotone High School.  The meeting is from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m..  The Illinois and Indiana Departments of Transportation will be presenting refinements to the B3 corridor including interchange types and locations, local road connectivity, overpass and underpass locations, and more. A question and answer forum will be held at 6:00 p.m..

State Senator Pat McGuire (Democrat, Joliet) has released the following statement following co-sponsoring and voting for Illinois Senate Bill 20, a bill which gives the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) control over building the Peotone Airport and calls for the airport to be operated in a public-private partnership: "Thousands of area men and women will have jobs building this airport, and thousands more will have permanent jobs at it," McGuire said. "The synergy between this airport, the Illiana Expressway, and our intermodal facilities should put. Will County on top of the economic heap for a long, long time." Proposals for the Illiana Expressway also include plans for a public-private partnership.   The B3 route for the Illiana Expressway, shown below, passes south of the proposed Peotone Airport's boundary: Illiana Expressway B3 alignment and Peotone Airport Footprint Map