Bush endorses Hastert's Prairie Parkway, but some say road is not best idea

MONTGOMERY - The massive transportation bill President Bush signed Wednesday includes $207 million for a pet project of House Speaker Dennis Hastert - a new road connecting two major highways in his district. But state officials are not yet convinced that the Prairie Parkway connector is the best way to ease traffic in the growing region outside Chicago, and some locals say it will promote urban sprawl, hurt the environment and swallow up fertile farmland. Illinois was second only to California in the amount of money earmarked for special projects - $1.3 billion - in the transportation bill, according to an analysis by the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. Hastert's district made out particularly well, with money for the par