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Illiana Corridor progress

Started by Rick Powell, February 11, 2012, 01:47:20 PM

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Brandon

Quote from: mukade on November 11, 2015, 06:50:05 PM
Quote from: 2trailertrucker on November 11, 2015, 05:20:56 PM
People have seemed to forget what got the Illiana started.

When the newly reconstructed 80/94 got its first first rain, it flooded out around Indianapolis
Blvd. INDOT closed the interstate, funneling traffic to US 30 to the south and the Toll Road to the north. They even removed the tolls!

Traffic on US 30 was a mess! The toll road was losing more money due to no income.

Thus the Illiana!

That happened once and would not justify a $1B+ highway. With a better routing, there would have been much more support.

The routing was fine, and it had plenty of support.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg


mukade

Quote from: Brandon on November 11, 2015, 06:58:50 PM
Quote from: mukade on November 11, 2015, 06:50:05 PM
Quote from: 2trailertrucker on November 11, 2015, 05:20:56 PM
People have seemed to forget what got the Illiana started.

When the newly reconstructed 80/94 got its first first rain, it flooded out around Indianapolis
Blvd. INDOT closed the interstate, funneling traffic to US 30 to the south and the Toll Road to the north. They even removed the tolls!

Traffic on US 30 was a mess! The toll road was losing more money due to no income.

Thus the Illiana!

That happened once and would not justify a $1B+ highway. With a better routing, there would have been much more support.

The routing was fine, and it had plenty of support.

Even if the amount of support for the route was 50%, that would not be fine, but it was not at 50%. You need broad support.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illiana_Expressway

Believe me, I wanted the highway back when the routing made sense, but the final routing was a joke.

captkirk_4

Something needs to be done so non-Chicago bound traffic can bypass the I-80/90/94 bottleneck around the south side of the lake. I went from Champaign to Lansing one Friday Afternoon and had no idea that stretch was stop and go from the Tri-State Junction all the way to around mile marker 26 in Indiana, what should have taken 30 minutes took nearly 2 hours. I was so pissed, had I known I'd have taken US 24 across Indiana like I did next time. The Illinana as proposed does not fit that need, What is needed is an I-480 from Morris to South Bend completely bypassing the region.

dzlsabe

#403
Quote from: captkirk_4 on November 26, 2015, 11:38:44 AM
Something needs to be done so non-Chicago bound traffic can bypass the I-80/90/94 bottleneck around the south side of the lake. I went from Champaign to Lansing one Friday Afternoon and had no idea that stretch was stop and go from the Tri-State Junction all the way to around mile marker 26 in Indiana, what should have taken 30 minutes took nearly 2 hours. I was so pissed, had I known I'd have taken US 24 across Indiana like I did next time. The Illinana as proposed does not fit that need, What is needed is an I-480 from Morris to South Bend completely bypassing the region.
The two week dead zombie is ALIVE. :-D

So youre sayin' the bypasses, Is-294 and 355 that bypass the city and dump into I-80 are not having the desired effect??? :confused:

Maybe we should consider bypassing the bypasses and get some more traffic on an extended, completed I-90? Which isnt actually a part of the "free, non-tolled" I80/94 bottleneck you cite. And kill a bunch of huge, zombie pteradactyls with one gigantic, 16-mile hunk of concrete. Forever.
ILs mantra..the beatings will continue until the morale improves but Expect Delays is good too. Seems some are happy that Chicago/land remains miserable. Status quo is often asinine...Always feel free to use a dictionary as I tend to offend younger or more sensitive viewers. Thanx Pythagoras. :rofl:

The Ghostbuster

How many think, like I do, that this road will never be constructed. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

silverback1065

This project is all on Illinois, Indiana doesn't give a crap, I don't think they are really pushing for it like Illinois.  In a perfect world, east of 65 it would follow us 30 all the way to i-69

dzlsabe

#406
This project, which should be moved to Fictional, is actually all on IDOT D1. And Ill bet theyve had enough of it after wasting TENS of millions over the past decade. It was pushed by former Gov. Quinn and his former IDOT chief to curry favor with Willco voters and try and put some lipstick on the other downstate turkey, Peotone International.

Thankfully, CMAP, D1 and Gov. Rauner saw thru this farce which would have sponged precious funds (from the rest of D1) to the betterment of MAYBE a few thousand people in very rural southern Willco and Indiana, the detriment of all the rest of D1, with dozens and dozens of more worthy projects that would affect tens of thousands, maybe more, daily. 
ILs mantra..the beatings will continue until the morale improves but Expect Delays is good too. Seems some are happy that Chicago/land remains miserable. Status quo is often asinine...Always feel free to use a dictionary as I tend to offend younger or more sensitive viewers. Thanx Pythagoras. :rofl:

Stratuscaster

No, it shouldn't be moved to "Fictional." If anything, label it "Historical." Ideas involving the Illiana Corridor date back to 1909. It still has validity as part of an overall bypass to serve the southern part of the larger Chicago Metropolitan Area AND for long-haul truck traffic.

Odd that one feels Indiana "doesn't give a crap" since the most recently feasibility study was done in 2009 - by Indiana.

GeekJedi

Did someone mention it should be moved to fictional? Hardly. It seems to have more lives than a cat.

Fictional = a highway that hasn't or will likely not ever be planned (or exist) that was simply created in the mind of the poster.
Illiana = An actual project, proposed and planned, though added and removed from "active" status many, many times.
"Wisconsin - The Concurrency State!"

dzlsabe

#409
I agree that someday, in thirty years or so, Illiana may need another look.

But ya build this for the right reasons, not because the traffic or the gang violence or whatever in a handful of zip codes make "that giant, sucking asshole called Chicago" a Chernobyl to avoid. You build it because the whole metro is firing on ALL cylinders and naturally growing. Has its finances in order.

In 1909, or 1940 for that matter, nobody really anticipated the explosive growth of Chicago, the west, NW, even north suburbs and Ohare. Weve tried the bypasses and they will continue to bypass, the real problem! Theres only one thing I see that can possibly help to resolve a whole bunch of those problems in ten years without making the existing calamities even worse. Its taken fifty, sixty years to dig ourselves into this mess.
ILs mantra..the beatings will continue until the morale improves but Expect Delays is good too. Seems some are happy that Chicago/land remains miserable. Status quo is often asinine...Always feel free to use a dictionary as I tend to offend younger or more sensitive viewers. Thanx Pythagoras. :rofl:

Brandon

Quote from: dzlsabe on November 27, 2015, 03:01:35 PM
It was pushed by former Gov. Quinn and his former IDOT chief to curry favor with Willco voters and try and put some lipstick on the other downstate turkey, Peotone International.

Damn, are you full of shit.  The Illiana, in it's current form as a proposal, was pushed by the Will County Board and Will County County Executive, not by Quinn or by IDOT.  The extension from I-57 to I-55 was completely, 100% the Will County government's idea.  And it was pushed, not for the possible Peotone Airport, but for the expanding intermodal centers (the largest in the six county area, I might add) and the truck traffic they pour onto I-80 and adjoining roads.

But, never mind, you're so Chicago-centric and provincial, it won't matter what anyone says.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

dzlsabe

#411
Quote from: Brandon on November 27, 2015, 05:07:44 PM
Quote from: dzlsabe on November 27, 2015, 03:01:35 PM
It was pushed by former Gov. Quinn and his former IDOT chief to curry favor with Willco voters and try and put some lipstick on the other downstate turkey, Peotone International.

Damn, are you full of shit.  The Illiana, in it's current form as a proposal, was pushed by the Will County Board and Will County County Executive, not by Quinn or by IDOT.  The extension from I-57 to I-55 was completely, 100% the Will County government's idea.  And it was pushed, not for the possible Peotone Airport, but for the expanding intermodal centers (the largest in the six county area, I might add) and the truck traffic they pour onto I-80 and adjoining roads.

But, never mind, you're so Chicago-centric and provincial, it won't matter what anyone says.
OK, it was pushed by Willco Board and executive, too. Who are Willco-centric. And embraced by Quinn, one of the many reasons he lost the election.

Im not "Chicago-centric", Im Chicagoland-centric. And theres priorities involved and very few north of 159th think Illiana  is even in the top fifty.
ILs mantra..the beatings will continue until the morale improves but Expect Delays is good too. Seems some are happy that Chicago/land remains miserable. Status quo is often asinine...Always feel free to use a dictionary as I tend to offend younger or more sensitive viewers. Thanx Pythagoras. :rofl:

Brandon

Quote from: dzlsabe on November 27, 2015, 05:35:24 PM
Quote from: Brandon on November 27, 2015, 05:07:44 PM
Quote from: dzlsabe on November 27, 2015, 03:01:35 PM
It was pushed by former Gov. Quinn and his former IDOT chief to curry favor with Willco voters and try and put some lipstick on the other downstate turkey, Peotone International.

Damn, are you full of shit.  The Illiana, in it's current form as a proposal, was pushed by the Will County Board and Will County County Executive, not by Quinn or by IDOT.  The extension from I-57 to I-55 was completely, 100% the Will County government's idea.  And it was pushed, not for the possible Peotone Airport, but for the expanding intermodal centers (the largest in the six county area, I might add) and the truck traffic they pour onto I-80 and adjoining roads.

But, never mind, you're so Chicago-centric and provincial, it won't matter what anyone says.
OK, it was pushed by Willco Board and executive, too. Who are Willco-centric. And embraced by Quinn, one of the many reasons he lost the election.

Im not "Chicago-centric", Im Chicagoland-centric. And theres priorities involved and very few north of 159th think Illiana  is even in the top fifty.

No, you're very Chicago-centric.  And the county line is 87th Street, which you seem to care nothing about south of.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

2trailertrucker

What?? No love for Mitch Daniels?? He was totally on board with this when the Borman flooded out. Indiana had everything set to go. Illinois ...is Illinois.

ET21

Quote from: dzlsabe on November 27, 2015, 05:35:24 PM
Quote from: Brandon on November 27, 2015, 05:07:44 PM
Quote from: dzlsabe on November 27, 2015, 03:01:35 PM
It was pushed by former Gov. Quinn and his former IDOT chief to curry favor with Willco voters and try and put some lipstick on the other downstate turkey, Peotone International.

Damn, are you full of shit.  The Illiana, in it's current form as a proposal, was pushed by the Will County Board and Will County County Executive, not by Quinn or by IDOT.  The extension from I-57 to I-55 was completely, 100% the Will County government's idea.  And it was pushed, not for the possible Peotone Airport, but for the expanding intermodal centers (the largest in the six county area, I might add) and the truck traffic they pour onto I-80 and adjoining roads.

But, never mind, you're so Chicago-centric and provincial, it won't matter what anyone says.
OK, it was pushed by Willco Board and executive, too. Who are Willco-centric. And embraced by Quinn, one of the many reasons he lost the election.

Im not "Chicago-centric", Im Chicagoland-centric. And theres priorities involved and very few north of 159th think Illiana  is even in the top fifty.

Lmao please :rolleyes:
The local weatherman, trust me I can be 99.9% right!
"Show where you're going, without forgetting where you're from"

Clinched:
IL: I-88, I-180, I-190, I-290, I-294, I-355, IL-390
IN: I-80, I-94
SD: I-190
WI: I-90, I-94
MI: I-94, I-196
MN: I-90

dzlsabe

"And the county line is 87th Street, which you seem to care nothing about south of". (#412)

Why, youre right again! 87th St. does border Dupage County...then zig-zags to Steger Road (which is like 205th St.?) on the east...Which you seem to care nothing about north of. "Giant, sucking asshole called Chicago" IIRC.
ILs mantra..the beatings will continue until the morale improves but Expect Delays is good too. Seems some are happy that Chicago/land remains miserable. Status quo is often asinine...Always feel free to use a dictionary as I tend to offend younger or more sensitive viewers. Thanx Pythagoras. :rofl:

andy3175

This may have appeared someplace else in the Forum, but it appears the Illiana has been (somewhat) in the news since the last post in this thread from 2015 (these articles are from November 2016):

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20161103/BLOGS02/161109916/illiana-corridor-whacked-again-in-federal-court

QuoteA federal judge has stuck another knife into the just barely alive proposed Illiana Corridor.

In a decision released Nov. 1, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Norgle used terms such as "invalid" and "no longer effective" to describe a Tier 2 environmental impact statement prepared on behalf of the project by the Illinois Department of Transportation and its Indiana counterpart.

IDOT had hoped to forestall a ruling. But Norgle held the EIS no longer is valid because of prior court action, so there is no controversy to consider. ...

The ruling means IDOT and the Indiana agency "must start over their environmental reviews from the beginning based on much more realistic data and do it right without impermissible shortcuts," he said. That will take time and money, and if done right, "would very likely show that the proposed costly Illiana toll way is not economically justified and is not environmentally sensible."

IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell would not comment on how long and how much it will take to revive the road. What he did say: "As we have said previously, the Illiana Expressway project is suspended. While the court this week found that the challenges to the Tier 2 Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision are moot due to unresolved questions with the Tier 1 ROD, the EIS includes other transportation projects, such as the I-55 interchange with Illinois 129 and Lorenzo Road. We will continue to work with the court on a solution."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-illiana-tollway-decision-st-1106-20161104-story.html

QuoteEnvironmental groups that oppose construction of the Illiana toll road are celebrating a second federal court judge's ruling that the Federal Highway Administration's 2014 approval of the bi-state project was invalid.

U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle ruled Tuesday that portions of the project's proposal that relied on its already legally invalidated foundation also were invalid.

The environmental plaintiffs – Openlands, Midewin Heritage Association and Sierra Club Illinois – had challenged both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 environmental impact statements and the federal government's "records of decision" greenlighting the 47-mile highway project through Will County. ...

Shortly after taking office in January 2015, Gov. Bruce Rauner suspended planning and development of the $1.3 billion Illiana project, which aims to connect Interstate 55 near Wilmington with Interstate 65 near Lowell, Ind., as an alternative to Interstate 80 for truckers.

While the project remains on hold in Illinois, Indiana is set on seeing it through.

In April, INDOT agreed to fund a new environmental impact statement to comply with the court order in an attempt to keep the controversial project alive.

"Indiana has always been committed to the Illiana Expressway and is ready to proceed with the project once Illinois is," INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield said following this week's ruling, which all but guarantees that both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 environmental impact statements will need to be revised.

Despite terminating all spending on the Illiana project, IDOT has said that it continues "working cooperatively" with INDOT to address the problematic environmental impact statement, as required by court order, because it includes other state transportation projects like the Interstate 55 interchange with Illinois 129 and Lorenzo Road.

"We will continue to work with the court on a solution," IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said following the judge's ruling this week. "The Illinois Department of Transportation will consult with (the) Federal Highway Administration and other stakeholders to determine the best path forward."
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

captkirk_4

Quote from: andy3175 on January 10, 2017, 11:43:43 PM
This may have appeared someplace else in the Forum, but it appears the Illiana has been (somewhat) in the news since the last post in this thread from 2015 (these articles are from November 2016):

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20161103/BLOGS02/161109916/illiana-corridor-whacked-again-in-federal-court

QuoteA federal judge has stuck another knife into the just barely alive proposed Illiana Corridor.

In a decision released Nov. 1, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Norgle used terms such as "invalid" and "no longer effective" to describe a Tier 2 environmental impact statement prepared on behalf of the project by the Illinois Department of Transportation and its Indiana counterpart.

IDOT had hoped to forestall a ruling. But Norgle held the EIS no longer is valid because of prior court action, so there is no controversy to consider. ...

The ruling means IDOT and the Indiana agency "must start over their environmental reviews from the beginning based on much more realistic data and do it right without impermissible shortcuts," he said. That will take time and money, and if done right, "would very likely show that the proposed costly Illiana toll way is not economically justified and is not environmentally sensible."

IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell would not comment on how long and how much it will take to revive the road. What he did say: "As we have said previously, the Illiana Expressway project is suspended. While the court this week found that the challenges to the Tier 2 Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision are moot due to unresolved questions with the Tier 1 ROD, the EIS includes other transportation projects, such as the I-55 interchange with Illinois 129 and Lorenzo Road. We will continue to work with the court on a solution."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-illiana-tollway-decision-st-1106-20161104-story.html

QuoteEnvironmental groups that oppose construction of the Illiana toll road are celebrating a second federal court judge's ruling that the Federal Highway Administration's 2014 approval of the bi-state project was invalid.

U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle ruled Tuesday that portions of the project's proposal that relied on its already legally invalidated foundation also were invalid.

The environmental plaintiffs – Openlands, Midewin Heritage Association and Sierra Club Illinois – had challenged both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 environmental impact statements and the federal government's "records of decision" greenlighting the 47-mile highway project through Will County. ...

Shortly after taking office in January 2015, Gov. Bruce Rauner suspended planning and development of the $1.3 billion Illiana project, which aims to connect Interstate 55 near Wilmington with Interstate 65 near Lowell, Ind., as an alternative to Interstate 80 for truckers.

While the project remains on hold in Illinois, Indiana is set on seeing it through.

In April, INDOT agreed to fund a new environmental impact statement to comply with the court order in an attempt to keep the controversial project alive.

"Indiana has always been committed to the Illiana Expressway and is ready to proceed with the project once Illinois is," INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield said following this week's ruling, which all but guarantees that both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 environmental impact statements will need to be revised.

Despite terminating all spending on the Illiana project, IDOT has said that it continues "working cooperatively" with INDOT to address the problematic environmental impact statement, as required by court order, because it includes other state transportation projects like the Interstate 55 interchange with Illinois 129 and Lorenzo Road.

"We will continue to work with the court on a solution," IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said following the judge's ruling this week. "The Illinois Department of Transportation will consult with (the) Federal Highway Administration and other stakeholders to determine the best path forward."

The route goes through a bunch of friggin' soybean fields, not Sequoia National Park, these environmental Wackos just really hate cars and want everyone riding around on bicycles. Tar and Feather these loons. I doubt congress will give Trump his trillion dollar highway stimulus, but if they did a complete southern bypass of Chicago, a I-480 from Morris to South Bend is desperately needed to deal with that awful Kingery Borman bottleneck. If they don't want to build there perhaps finish four-laneing US24 from Logansport IN to Peoria IL for a Toledo to Quad City transcontinental Chicago bypass.

hobsini2

Actually it goes through the area that used to be the Joliet Arsenal that they turned into Midewin National Grassland between I-55 and US 52. East of there is the soybean fields.
I knew it. I'm surrounded by assholes. Keep firing, assholes! - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)

Brandon

Quote from: hobsini2 on January 14, 2017, 02:24:21 PM
Actually it goes through the area that used to be the Joliet Arsenal that they turned into Midewin National Grassland between I-55 and US 52. East of there is the soybean fields.

It would've gone a bit south of the former arsenal, skirting the south side of Midewin, but not in Midewin.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

edwaleni

Having traveled that area extensively over 30 years, now is the time to start planning it.  I didn't say build it now, just said to plan for it.  That means getting your EIS sorted, record of decision in place and the centerline approved so ROW can be incrementally acquired. Illinois has no money for new highway construction right now when many other needs are to be addressed.

Even if cars cease to exist, the worlds population still needs the means to travel and ways to collect whatever those future methods will be still need to be planned for.

With the Macomb Bypass sitting undone and eroding away, the Beardstown Bridge (US67) about to fall apart, parts of US50 in southern Illinois breaking up, I can think of some other action items the state can prioritize.

inkyatari

Quote from: Brandon on January 14, 2017, 09:11:50 PM
Quote from: hobsini2 on January 14, 2017, 02:24:21 PM
Actually it goes through the area that used to be the Joliet Arsenal that they turned into Midewin National Grassland between I-55 and US 52. East of there is the soybean fields.

It would've gone a bit south of the former arsenal, skirting the south side of Midewin, but not in Midewin.

It goes about half a mile south of Midewin.
I'm never wrong, just wildly inaccurate.



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