Both Sierra Club Illinois and its local affiliate organization, Livable Lake County, have been appointed to a state-sanctioned task force to study alternative uses for the land once slated to become the controversial Route 53 Extension. 

Other Lake County organizations named to the task force are Openlands and Midwest Sustainability Group.

All four groups are partnering in the struggle to protect Lake County’s natural areas.

The task force is charged with producing an official recommendation on what to do with the land other than build a tollway on it. Its recommendation is due by the end of 2022.