(Community) College of DuPage Builds New Road

The Community College of DuPage has built a new road which was described as "proposed." To my knowledge this was not discussed during announced and open zoning board meetings. That was the approach agreed with taxpayers and the county Zoning Board for all new construction on the campus.

The road is in the left of the aerial photo above. There has been a lot of construction on the Glen Ellyn campus since 2012. The new road on the campus required a large curb cut into Fawell/22nd Street and other modifications to the street. This obviously required the approval of the county and /or the Village of Glen Ellyn. One simply can't modify a public road. That approval was apparently given in 2013-2014. I know a lot of people drove on Fawell (22nd street) and saw the work going on. It couldn't be missed. To my knowledge no one asked how this was occurring. I didn't bother because I knew that the politics involved would be a real time waster on my part. The Breuder Brigade and its small army of communications staffers would thwart any attempt on my part. The county apparently preferred to look the other way. I do want to state that this is a wonderful example of how government at all levels is operating solely for special interests. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this publicly funded college, the "Community" College of DuPage is simply another special interest which has been operating for its own purpose. It remains to be seen if the college can return to its core mission. And at what cost to the taxpayers and the students.

This is a photo of the new entry road into the college. The buildings in the background are in Wheaton. The road was build along residential buildings and replaces grassy fields. This changes further the character of this residential neighborhood.

So how did this street happen? During the most recent public zoning hearings this new road was described as "proposed." It was never explicitly discussed and approved before residents. It runs along the Village boundary with Wheaton which is backed by homes and apartments. Such a road would require cuts to the curbs on Fawell/22nd street. It also required the removal of grassy medians. One should ask "How could these cuts occur without some approval?"

Here's the earlier "Facilities Master Plan" that was published by the college. This was used in an attempt to get DuPage County resident buy-in for the schemes of the college:

Here is a portion of the "Planned Development Site Plan" as provided by the college during the zoning hearings. This plan is "Revised June 18, 2012". The new road at the far left was connecting to item "A" which was defined as a "new parking lot" in the list of "proposed". 

So how did this road get built?  Here is one explanation. On July 17, 2013 I posted about an article in the Daily Herald. The article was in the Herald on July 14. The title was "A new day for once-feuding Glen Ellyn and COD?"

In the article there was a smiling photo of Glen Ellyn Village President Alex Demos. The article stated "Glen Ellyn's new village president says it's a new day for the village and College of DuPage -- two governmental entities that had a protracted and expensive legal dispute over jurisdictional matters for more than two years." Here is a published photo of Village President Alex Demos. Why is he smiling? Could it be that he personally worked to see that the curb cuts for the new road were approved by the village? All as part of the "new day." One wonders what other deals were struck with the Breuder Brigade. 

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