Therese Altergott has lived on Rex Boulevard long enough to know the intersection locals call "the bulb." She's watched traffic stack up at Route 83 and Monroe, an intersection state transportation officials have graded Level of Service F. On Tuesday, July 21, she watched the Elmhurst City Council vote 12-1 to approve a 139,000-square-foot warehouse distribution center less than 700 feet from Salt Creek Elementary School.
Now she's asking Springfield for help.
In a letter published Wednesday, July 22, Altergott called on three state legislators — Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock, Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, and Rep. Marti Deuter — to support Senate Bill 3732. As described in her letter, the bill would require sound studies for warehouse projects and mandate 1,000-foot buffers between warehouses, data centers, or truck stops and sensitive sites including schools, residences, parks, and hospitals. The bill is confirmed as filed in the Illinois General Assembly's 104th session, though its full text and committee status are not publicly available.
"We think it makes sense to require a sound study for all such projects, and that all warehouses, data centers, and truck stops be located at least 1,000 feet away from all sensitive areas, such as residences, schools, parks, hospitals, day care centers, and nursing homes," Altergott wrote.
What the council approved
Houston-based Alliance Industrial Co. plans to demolish the Clarion Inn at 933 S. Riverside Drive and build a speculative warehouse with 14 loading docks initially and 28 planned. The facility could house up to four tenants. Ward 7 Alderman Rex Irby cast the lone "no" vote; Ward 4 Alderwoman Noel Talluto was absent.
The approval is preliminary. A final planned unit development vote is still required before construction can begin. Conditions attached to the preliminary approval include truck-routing restrictions and additional landscaping to buffer the school and nearby homes.
Residents push back
About 350 residents signed a petition opposing the project, according to Altergott's letter. Their concerns include diesel exhaust near the school, nighttime noise from loading docks, contamination of the adjacent forest preserve and Salt Creek, and worsening congestion at the already-failing intersection.
Resident Mark Drysch told the council at the Tuesday, July 21 meeting: "This is not a typical industrial zone. You can't just drop a 140,000-square-foot warehouse box on this site and assume it will have little to no impact on the traffic, noise and air pollution."
Altergott also argued that the city's newly adopted Zoning Rewrite, finalized the same night after what she described as 6.5 years of debate, exempts motor vehicle noise from local regulations. She says that provision clears the way for around-the-clock warehouse operations.
The traffic picture
City records show the Route 83/Monroe/Riverside Drive intersection carries an F-grade level of service. Elmhurst has secured $2.7 million in grant funding for intersection improvements, with construction targeted for late 2028 or 2029, according to Development, Planning & Zoning Committee minutes.
Ward 3 Alderman Chris Jensen, who voted in favor of the warehouse, argued at the July 21 meeting that Route 83 carries 5,500 trucks per day compared to an estimated 62 daily truck trips from the warehouse.
What's next
SB 3732's current committee assignment and hearing schedule have not been made public. The warehouse project still requires a final PUD vote from the council before construction can proceed.
