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Mundelein board candidates differ on Route 53 plan

The candidates running for three seats on Mundelein's village board are divided when it comes to the proposed extension of Route 53 into Lake County.

And even those who support the long-gestating project - a portion of which would run through western Mundelein - doubt it'll ever be built.

The candidates in the April 4 election are incumbents Ray Semple and Dawn Abernathy, former Trustee Robin Meier, plan commission member Scott Black, and political newcomers Karthik Chandramouli and Jeanne Cygnus.

The candidates spoke about Route 53 and other issues in a group interview with the Daily Herald.

Plans to extend Route 53 past Lake-Cook Road have been stalled for decades. The most recent estimates put a nearly $3 billion price tag on the project.

Many Lake County elected officials had united behind a version of the plan a few years ago, but that began to unravel last year when county board Chairman Aaron Lawlor withdrew his support.

Cygnus acknowledged traffic congestion is a "huge problem" in the region but said she's concerned about the environmental impact of a highway extension. She'd rather see money spent on improving public transportation.

Chandramouli is a member of a nonprofit group that has opposed the Route 53 extension. He called it a "flawed idea" that the state can't afford to build or maintain.

He suggested ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft and improved Metra service can help reduce road congestion.

"Government is not going to solve the problem of traffic," Chandramouli said. "It requires different thinking."

Semple said he's supported the proposed extension of Route 53 his entire life but doubts it'll ever happen.

"I would never bet a dollar that I'll see it, because somebody in Springfield would have to make a decision and follow through with the decision and stop doing study after study after study," he said.

Abernathy said she supports the most recent Route 53 plan, a four-lane highway with 45 mph speed limits and exits at points along the way, including in Mundelein.

But she doesn't think it'll happen, either.

Neither does Black. A highway extension runs counter to how society is evolving, he said, citing the rise in telecommuting as an example. The state's current fiscal woes are another barrier, he said.

"It'll never be built and shouldn't be built," Black said.

Meier didn't support or oppose the highway extension but said she believes it will be built, eventually.

"When the state says, 'I'm going to put a road in this corridor,' the state typically does it," Meier said. "(Just) maybe not in your lifetime."

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