The I-55 Wilmington Study plans to outreach to affected stakeholders including city leaders, businesses, residents and organizations. The goal is to provide ample opportunity for public participation because it will aid with the preliminary design and environmental assessment process. Public involvement helps get feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, as well as meet IDOT guidelines for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) public involvement requirements.

Multiple alternatives will be developed that satisfy the purpose and need of the project. Each alternative will be analyzed for its impacts both environmentally and ecologically. The alternatives will be evaluated and presented during the public information meeting. A neutral evaluator will make the decision as to which alternative will be used based on the purpose and need, engineering findings, impacts of each alternative and input received from the public involvement activities to date.   

The study is complex. Therefore, a number of issues will need to be addressed to find the most effective decision. It is crucial to educate the public and decision makers of the consequences for each course of action. The following describes the process that will be used.