I-290 rebuild/expansion feedback

[ET21]

IDOT wants feedback on future plans for the Ike. One plan includes expanding from 3 to 4 lanes between Austin and Mannheim, while another has the Blue Line extended to Mannheim.

Link to the story:
http://wgntv.com/2013/10/07/idot-wants-feedback-on-eisenhower-expansion-plans/

[Brandon]

1. The Blue Line should be extended west to Mannheim.

2. The Ike should be four lanes each way between the Tri-State and Austin.  You cannot squeeze 6 lanes into 3

3. Remove the left exit/entrances at Harlem and Austin.  Place them on the right.  These cause most of the backups.

4. Remove a few of the ramps in the Avenues.

[Joe The Dragon]

They also should do some work to I-294 / I-290 / I-88 area ramps.

From Mannheim to I-88 / I-290 split needs 1 more lane for the main lanes each way or maybe just outbound or add an C/D system for outbound.

For I-294 / I-290 / I-88 ideas hear.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10015.0

[JREwing78]

They also should do some work to I-294 / I-290 / I-88 area ramps.

From Mannheim to I-88 / I-290 split needs 1 more lane for the main lanes each way or maybe just outbound or add an C/D system for outbound.

For I-294 / I-290 / I-88 ideas hear.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10015.0

This. On my usual trip between Wisconsin and Michigan, the EBD I-290-> EBD I-294 ramp is the one choke point I reliably encounter on every single trip. That alone must account for a gigantic chunk of the congestion issues on this stretch of I-290.

[Rick Powell]

News on a Village of Oak Park meeting earlier this week for the I-290 Ike expansion.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-park/news/ct-oak-eisenhower-austin-tl-1008-20150930-story.html

[Joe The Dragon]

They also should do some work to I-294 / I-290 / I-88 area ramps.

From Mannheim to I-88 / I-290 split needs 1 more lane for the main lanes each way or maybe just outbound or add an C/D system for outbound.

For I-294 / I-290 / I-88 ideas hear.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10015.0

This. On my usual trip between Wisconsin and Michigan, the EBD I-290-> EBD I-294 ramp is the one choke point I reliably encounter on every single trip. That alone must account for a gigantic chunk of the congestion issues on this stretch of I-290.

you can say on I-90 till I-294 or wait for west bypass to be build

[johndoe780]

1. The Blue Line should be extended west to Mannheim.

2. The Ike should be four lanes each way between the Tri-State and Austin.  You cannot squeeze 6 lanes into 3

3. Remove the left exit/entrances at Harlem and Austin.  Place them on the right.  These cause most of the backups.

4. Remove a few of the ramps in the Avenues.

Express lanes are a must.

[I-39]

Needs to be eight lanes (minimum) from I-88 split off to Austin Blvd. Also, the Tollway should widen I-88 between York Road and the start of the Eisenhower when this project gets going.

Of course, given the state's budget woes, don't expect to see these improvements anytime soon.

[Stratuscaster]

Where exactly would one put express lanes on that section of I-290?

Fitting 8 lanes looks to be a challenge.

I do recall plans to relocate the left exit/entrances at Harlem and Austin to the right - they would then curve back up and over the mainline and the Metra tracks and meet up at the cross street in a SPUI.

I like the idea of dropping some ramps in the Avenues, too.

[johndoe780]

Where exactly would one put express lanes on that section of I-290?

Fitting 8 lanes looks to be a challenge.

I do recall plans to relocate the left exit/entrances at Harlem and Austin to the right - they would then curve back up and over the mainline and the Metra tracks and meet up at the cross street in a SPUI.

I like the idea of dropping some ramps in the Avenues, too.

3 lanes express, 2 lanes local. No psuedo-express lanes like the Kennedy. Real, dedicated express lanes. Most people driving on the Ike aren't going to Oark Park, they're going downtown.

[Stephane Dumas]

News on a Village of Oak Park meeting earlier this week for the I-290 Ike expansion.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-park/news/ct-oak-eisenhower-austin-tl-1008-20150930-story.html

I saved the article on Archive.is https://archive.is/QZ7QV and here the website for I-290 http://www.eisenhowerexpressway.com/video/ For Laramie and Cicero Avenues, it include some free-flow turnaround in TXDOT style.

[Stratuscaster]

3 lanes express, 2 lanes local. No psuedo-express lanes like the Kennedy. Real, dedicated express lanes. Most people driving on the Ike aren't going to Oark Park, they're going downtown.

Fair enough. Still wondering how to cram 5 lanes in where currently only 3 exist.

[Revive 755]

The signal phasing shown in the video for the 1st Avenue interchange is out of character for IDOT D-1; should be NB+SB lefts, NB+SB thru movements, then EB+WB lefts (video has NB+SB thru movements, NB+SB lefts, then EB+WB lefts).

[Brandon]

3 lanes express, 2 lanes local. No psuedo-express lanes like the Kennedy. Real, dedicated express lanes. Most people driving on the Ike aren't going to Oark Park, they're going downtown.

Fair enough. Still wondering how to cram 5 lanes in where currently only 3 exist.

Bury the L?

[Revive 755]

Of course, given the state's budget woes, don't expect to see these improvements anytime soon.

They could always revisit having ISTHA take over I-290 for rebuilding and widening.

Fair enough. Still wondering how to cram 5 lanes in where currently only 3 exist.

Bury the L?

Possibly combined with cantilevering Garfield Street over the railroads that parallel the L tracks?
?

[ET21]

3 lanes express, 2 lanes local. No psuedo-express lanes like the Kennedy. Real, dedicated express lanes. Most people driving on the Ike aren't going to Oark Park, they're going downtown.

Fair enough. Still wondering how to cram 5 lanes in where currently only 3 exist.

Bury the L?

I can see that. Subway from Forest Park to whatever the last subway stop on the Near Northwest side is (I think Grand/Milwaukee)

[abefroman329]

3 lanes express, 2 lanes local. No psuedo-express lanes like the Kennedy. Real, dedicated express lanes. Most people driving on the Ike aren't going to Oark Park, they're going downtown.

Fair enough. Still wondering how to cram 5 lanes in where currently only 3 exist.

Bury the L?

I can see that. Subway from Forest Park to whatever the last subway stop on the Near Northwest side is (I think Grand/Milwaukee)

It'd be cheaper to leave the L where it is and widen the Ike than it would be to build a new subway tunnel from Forest Park to somewhere between the UIC-Halsted and Clinton stops on the Blue Line.

[The Ghostbuster]

I like the idea of burying the existing railway and using it to widen Interstate 290. Of course, such a proposal would only go forward in a Fictional Highways world. Also, wouldn't it be very expensive to bury the railway?

[JREwing78]

They also should do some work to I-294 / I-290 / I-88 area ramps.

From Mannheim to I-88 / I-290 split needs 1 more lane for the main lanes each way or maybe just outbound or add an C/D system for outbound.

For I-294 / I-290 / I-88 ideas hear.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10015.0

This. On my usual trip between Wisconsin and Michigan, the EBD I-290-> EBD I-294 ramp is the one choke point I reliably encounter on every single trip. That alone must account for a gigantic chunk of the congestion issues on this stretch of I-290.

you can say on I-90 till I-294 or wait for west bypass to be build

I have all sorts of options to get around this choke point. Does it make fixing it any less necessary?

[abefroman329]

Also, wouldn't it be very expensive to bury the railway?

Undoubtedly.  New heavy rail tunnels are obscenely expensive.  Maybe cheaper if you bury it under the current alignment, since you don't have to buy new land and you've solved the problem of how to connect it to the current subway portal, but that does nothing to solve the concerns that the current Blue Line is in the middle of an expressway instead of the middle of a neighborhood.

[dzlsabe]

Or dont do anything to the IKE. Spend the money on a new tollway that will actually help all Chicago X-way problems. Finish (desiamese) the missing link in I90. Now, from the Strangler in Hillside (A) thru downtown (C) to the Skyway (B) is 22 miles. A to B straight line is 16 miles, and could be built over existing railyards and ROWs. That saves six miles...but the beauty is Schaumburg and Gary magically become a fifty mile trip, instead of sixty. Construction techniques like those on I-70 Glenwood Canyon (see you tube) would be needed. No more 90/94. You can see it from space. Hypotenuse, as plain as the nose on your face.

[Stratuscaster]

There is no "missing link" in I-90.

I-90 today goes nowhere near Hillside..

How much traffic is going from Schaumburg to Gary to make this a worthwhile endeavor? How does it help anyone else in the Metro area?

None of that helps the I-290/I-294/I-88 area. Nor does it do anything for the bottleneck on I-290 heading into or out of downtown.

[dzlsabe]

It would take loads of interstate traffic off of our overcrowded freeways and put it on a shorter, faster tollway thru town. The "Strangler" would be a major beneficiary of this relief valve, as would the Ike, Kennedy, and the Ryan. Its time I-90 moved out, off of I-94. Nowhere except Atlanta (16? lanes wide) are two interstates bundled together thru a major metro area like here. Nothing else I see will end the "Groundhog" day, week, decades long traffic problems around here.

[Stratuscaster]

I still don't think it would help as much as you think it might, but I'm willing to hear you out.

Keep going. Flesh it out a bit more, please. Starting where on the north/west end, exactly? Ending where on the south/east end? What's the path? How many lanes?

[dzlsabe]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8337329,-87.7319639,11z Follow CN ROW from "strangler" exiting 290 or going to 290 & 294, to Cicero, turning south, crossing San/Ship canal, Pulaski, BNSF Corwith, east on 49th, south along Western and CSX to 59th, then east to Halsted, then SE, crossing Ryan, connecting to Skyway. Or see new topic in Fictional, heres a map... http://imgur.com/u9L0fFx