Sentinel 1-23-13

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Sentinel The Shorewood

ONLINE More news at shorewoodsentinel.com

Hold the salt Wednesday, Januar y 23, 2013

Vol. 18 No. 7

Voyager Media Publications • www.shorewoodsentinel.com

First tier completed in Illiana Corridor By Nick Reiher Managing editor

Another mild winter could come with a cost this spring

spokesman. Other programs such as “Warm Up to Snowshoeing” and “Twilight Tubing” obviously had to be canceled, he said. And other snow-based programs planned through February could be either canceled or altered, he said.

The announcement was no surprise, but it provides a benchmark for the next step in what Gov. Pat Quinn calls “a priority for my administration.” Transportation officials in Indiana and Illinois announced Jan. 18 the completion of the first tier of the Illiana Corridor project, and with it, the selection of the 50mile B3 route, which would link Interstate 55 near Wilmington to Interstate 65 in Indiana. The Illinois Department of Transportation, the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration were involved in the final section following a handful of meetings with officials throughout Will County, as well as those who would be affected by construction of the path, anticipated to cost $1.25 billion in 2018 dollars. Officials have said they would consider private financing, and it is likely the Illiana will be a tollway. Corridor officials say the project is the first in the nation to use a combined federal and

See SNOW NO, page 2

See ILLIANA, page 27

By Laura Katauskas and Nick Reiher Enterprise Publications

Whether or not you like the white, fluffy stuff coating the streets, the lack of snow and unseasonable temperatures are a mixed blessing for most, with the ramifications of a mild winter lurking to a possible problematic spring. Even the prospect of a couple hundred golfers able to play on its courses in January isn’t enough to offset the concerns Joliet Park District officials have about the lack of snow on top of a drought this past summer. The lack of moisture and a hard freeze means the likelihood of more insects eating up Joliet Park District courses when the weather turns warmer, said Dominic Egizio, executive director. Manpower hours saved now translates to more hours necessary for manual watering and aeration, as well as applying insecticides, added Ted Brodeur, the park district’s superintendent of Revenue Facilities. With more golfers right now, they said, the district’s three golf clubhouses are doing well. But the lack of snow doesn’t do much

Bugle File Photo

Scenes like these from the cleanup of the February 2011 blizzard that paralysed the Midwest have become a distant memory in the wake of unseasonably warm temperatures the past two years.

good for the local Nordic Ski Club, which was supposed to have its annual meet the weekend of Jan. 19 at Woodruff Golf Course. Likewise, the Forest Preserve District of Will County has had to adapt its winter offerings due to the lack of snow, including its annual “Musher Mania” event Jan. 12. The sled dogs this year had to pull wheeled sleds instead, said Bruce Hodgdon, the district’s


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