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A VIEW FROM THE SUBURBS

Madeleine Doubek

The tollways aren't likely to disappear any time soon

by Madeleine Doubek

Almost as many people have used the tollways for political gain as there are miles of toll roads. That would be 274.

Picture a husband and wife sitting in a car doing a slow burn in backed-up traffic at one of the toll booths we have all over the suburbs. The husband tells his wife about John Schmidt, that candidate for governor who promises to get rid of the toll highway authority "where all the hanky panky is going on." The wife Jaded from hours spent in front of the booths waiting for the privilege to plunk in forty or fifty cents, asks the key question: "Don't they all say stuff like that?"

That describes the ad Democrat Schmidt is airing during suburban drive time. And that's how tollway politics has played itself out in the 44 years since public officials began promising to raze the booths as soon as the bonds that helped build them are retired.

Plenty of politicians talk about tearing down the booths, but suburban residents, who use the toll roads more than most Illinoisans, figure it never will happen. The tollways were supposed to become freeways. But, with due respect to Schmidt and his proposal to create a trust fund with excess revenues to retire the bonds, I'll toss forty cents in my mouth, swallow it and dance a jig in front of a toll collector the day that happens.

Why won't it happen? Well, on the face of it, the tollways work. If they were honest, suburban legislators and some tollway users would concede they don't mind paying because the roads are kept fairly smooth and clean. Even urban planners and traffic safety advocates want to keep toll roads because they encourage other forms of transit and alleviate congestion. And if a proposal to abolish the toll authority were to advance in the legislature, it's a safe bet regionalism would erupt. Downstaters and some Chicagoans would squeal that already scarce funds for their roads would be siphoned off.

More to the point, almost as many people have used the tollways for political gain as there are miles of toll roads. That would be 274. And counting. Heck, everybody can use the toll roads in some form or another. Schmidt is, by following in 1994 Democratic nominee Dawn dark Netsch's exhaust.

Of course, there have been changes at the toll authority recently. Officials, it's generally acknowledged, have slowed the scandalous headlines. Before, there were stories about $1,700 office chairs and subsidized meals at the cafeteria. There were the free passes for many employees and helicopter rides for now- convicted former tollway director Bob Hickman. He's just one of the politically connected who have either been convicted or accused of using the toll authority to play out their get-rich- quick schemes.

Most important, tollways are unlikely to become public freeways because they pave the way for a lucrative political power base. Take, for example, the real estate that lies in the path of planned tollway extensions. The darnedest people buy land that just happens to be located right where the next toll road must be built. Or handle the deal for a commission. Or secure the sweetest consulting contract.

Consider Gayle Franzen. A former tollway executive director who ran briefly for Illinois secretary of state, Franzen's investment banking firm made plenty handling bond work for the toll authority. Now he represents a firm that won a $37 million contract to help create drive-through booths.

And the tollway's current directors — four Democrats and five Republicans — comprise a bipartisan spoils system. All are politically connected. One, Democrat Bill Dugan of Mount Prospect, is a union leader. Another, Jim Banks, is the nephew of Chicago Aid. Bill Banks. On the Republican side is Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar, a college buddy of Gov. Jim Edgar's who is being scrutinized for a possible role in some land deals. There's Bob Neal of Wadsworth, for example, a Lake County board member and a loyal Republican who took a turn as county GOP chair.

And the longest-serving director is Arthur Philip of Oak Brook. Philip's been on the board going on 13 years. Count him a loyal Republican. He's the brother of Senate President James "Pate" Philip.

Indeed, the tollway remains one of the last bastions of political patronage. So, despite the best intentions of candidates like John Schmidt, the tollways aren't likely to disappear any time soon. They provide a path for a powerful political engine.

Madeleine Doubek is political editor of the Daily Herald, a suburban metro newspaper.

Illinois Issues November 1997 / 45


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