Court rules Elwood won’t have to allow bridge for trucks

The village of Elwood has received a ruling from the Illinois Appellate Court that will avoid thousands of trucks from passing through the village.
In 2019, LB Anderson Land Holdings, Inc., and East Gate Logistics Park which are companies affiliated with the “Northpoint” developement in the City of Joliet, insisted that the Village of Elwood was required by an annexation agreement entered into in the year 2000 to allow a bridge to funnel truck traffic from the Northpoint Joliet Development into the Village of Elwood.
The annexation agreement was entered into with prior property owners long before Northpoint was involved with development in this area. The Mayor and Village Trustees strongly opposed accepting the burden of this bridge and the associated truck traffic.
The village instructed its attorneys from the Joliet law firm of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, LLC to file suit in the Circuit Court of Will County asking the court for a judgment declaring that Elwood should not have this burden.
A Will County judge agreed with Northpoint and ordered that the village was required by the terms of the annexation agreement to allow the bridge.
The Village disagreed with the judge’s ruling and appealed the decision to the Illinois Appellate Court.
On Feb. 27, the Appellate Court reversed the Will County judge’s ruling and determined Northpoint had no right to impose this bridge and traffic burden upon the village of Elwood.
“This has been a long, hard-fought battle for the rights of our little village to be protected from the monster-sized Joliet development, but the fight has been worth the effort,” Village President Doug Jenco commented.
Village Administrator Julie Friebele stated that, “I am so happy for all the residents of Elwood and the surrounding area that these thousands of trucks will not be traveling through our village.”˙