The Village of Monee Board of Trustees strongly opposed Will County’s proposed freight transportation plans that would significantly impact the community during their June 25, 2025 meeting.

Will County Department of Transportation is proposing an east-west freight mobility plan connecting Interstate 57 to Route 394, designed to move semi-truck traffic across eastern Will County. Two proposed routes would run directly through Monee, potentially devastating the village’s economic development efforts.

The first proposal would create a four-lane highway from Harlem Avenue to I-57, with an overpass near Egyptian Trail that would pass just north of the town center, continue over Governor’s Highway, and run behind several subdivisions including McCoral, Gulf Vista, and between the elementary school and Country Meadows.

“It would be the death of Monee,” said Mayor Dr. Therese Bogs, expressing concern that the overpass would bypass the town center and eliminate economic progress. “The overpass would basically just stomp out any progress that we’ve done.”

The second option would route traffic south to Governor’s Highway at Watson’s cutoff, running through the middle of the 90 acres the village recently purchased for a new police station site, continuing eastward between Walkers Grove and Heatherbrook subdivisions.

Administrator Ruben Bautista emphasized that both proposals would run directly through Monee, despite the village’s ongoing efforts to address truck traffic through their own realignment project at Cleveland and Hamilton avenues. That project, set to begin this fall, aims to route commercial traffic through the industrial complex rather than through residential areas.

“This was presented to them in a private meeting that we had with DOT,” Bautista said, noting the village has reached out to various officials to voice concerns.

Will County is hosting a public hearing Thursday, June 26, from 4-7 p.m. at Monee Elementary School. Village officials strongly encouraged residents to attend and voice opposition to the proposals.

The village board unanimously expressed opposition to both routes, with several trustees questioning why the county wouldn’t route the highway further south through farmland rather than populated areas.