A hearing for the Prairie Woods Access Road was held last night at the village hall. The Access Road issue arose when residents complained to the village that the access road was being used as a shortcut by general traffic and that many were speeding and driving erratically, putting residents walking the path in danger. This sparked a lot of controversy among residents who were promised by the developer that this would be used as an emergency road and walking path. The road must remain available to emergency vehicles such as police and fire, but a solution to keep the road open for emergency crews and closed to non-emergency vehicles has been a long, ongoing question.
At the hearing, it was decided that the access road gate would be locked with access granted only to emergency vehicles who will possess the keys to open the gates. Any non-emergency traffic will not be able to pass, including construction vehicles which will now be allowed to use Spruce Terrace. A previous agreement in the Annexation Agreement did not allow for such traffic on Spruce Terrace, but the village will change the agreement.
Of the trustees present (Ponio, Savillie, O'Malley, Verciglio, Mascillino and Mayor Herrmann) Trustee Ponio was alone in opposing the decision to change the Annexation agreement. He stated that the village needs to stick to the agreements it makes and not make changes that support developers over our residents, otherwise our agreements "do not mean anything."
