You can get to Skyline Drive in Batavia if you turn south on Cambridge Drive from Fabyan Parkway.

When you tool down the Skyline curve, past Andrews Drive and Hansford Avenue, you come to an abrupt halt.

Shabby fencing, a stand of trees and bushes prevent any further driving, though there’s an opening for pedestrians.

From the other side, Spring Green Way and McKee Street both connect to Skyline Drive.

Skyline comes to a halt on the other side as well, with ramshackle fencing, trees, bushes and a series of red triangles warning that vehicles cannot go through.

And that’s the way local residents, like David Carney want it.

“It’s a road that is really used by a lot of pedestrians, and there’s no real way to put sidewalks in that area,” Carney said. “A lot of kids use it to go to the park, Clover Hills Park. It does not have any lighting.”

That 214 feet of would-be road was the subject of a hard-fought court battle, stemming from the Batavia City Council passing an ordinance May 1, 2023 to annex that section of the Skyline Drive right-of-way in unincorporated Geneva Township.

The idea was to have city control over the road and future improvements – that is, to build a through road that would connect both sides of Skyline Drive at some point.

As required by law, Batavia sent notices of its intent, dated March 29, 2023, to the Batavia Fire District trustees, the Batavia Library District trustees, the Kane County Board and Geneva Township officials – 17 notices in all.

The six Geneva Township officials apparently did not read their notice until almost a year later, because on April 10, 2024, the township attorney sought an emergency legal action to invalidate the annexation before a one-year deadline to challenge on April 30, 2024 passed.

Mary Dickson of Bond, Dickson and Conway, sought a quo warranto action, sending legal documents via overnight express delivery to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser.

A quo warranto is Latin for “by what authority,” challenging Batavia’s annexation.

Both Raoul and Mosser declined to get involved.

Geneva Township Highway Commissioner Michael Abts filed suit April 17, 2024 in Kane County, asserting that the residents were opposed to the connection of Skyline Drive. The court filing claimed it would create a “cut-through [that] will increase traffic and create safety hazards for the residents,” among other reasons.

Abts, on behalf the road district, asked a judge to declare the annexation invalid, asserting that Batavia lacked authority to annex it and that the annexation would affect the road district’s ability to provide proper snowplow maintenance.

Batavia filed a motion to dismiss the suit, which Kane County Judge John Dalton granted on April 30, 2024.

Dickson filed a notice of appeal on May 6, 2024. And on Aug. 22 of this year, the Second District Appellate Court in Elgin upheld the dismissal.

Abts did not return a voicemail and email seeking comment.

Skyline Drive and its non-connection has a history going back decades, said Scott Buening, Batavia community and economic development director.

“The southern part was built in the late 1960s, early 1970s,” Buening said. “It was a dead end township road.”

In 2000, the Windemere Subdivision was built to the north, he said.

“We built up to the city line at the time. Skyline Drive to the south didn’t quite get to the road and residents didn’t want them connected,” Buening said.

Batavia officials wanted to be sure the 200-plus feet south of the dead end was under the city’s jurisdiction, Buening said, which is why it took the step of annexation.

Connecting the two sides by building a through-road would cost about $100,000, he said.

“Maybe someday, but not right now,” Buening said. “It’s no t an urgent matter.”