Lake County, IL traffic problems thread

Started by dietermoreno, February 05, 2016, 06:44:14 PM

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dietermoreno

How long does your commute usually take in Lake County, IL?   Ever imagined, or even experimented, with how fast you think it might be with road improvements?

Does how long your commute takes vary with how many laws you follow or break?



     New speed record from Waukegan to Island Lake in Friday night rush hour: 40 min from Lewis and Grand in Waukegan to Burnet and Eastway in Island Lake.  Many laws were likely broken to accomplish this and involved all wheel drive.

     No exit ramp at a stop light instead of a stop light? - then make one making a through U turn and driving on grass and over curbs.

     (1) Swerving in and out of traffic to achieve 60 on Rt 41 in a 55. (2)  Swerving in and out of traffic and blowing the light at O'plaine and turning left on red at 120 and 45 to achieve 70 on Rt 120 east of Grayslake in a 55. (3)  Swervring in and out of traffic and passing and cutting off stopped school buses and blowing the light at Casey Rd to achieve 60 on Rt 45 in a 45 to bypass the backup at 120 and 83 and the train tracks.  (4) Swerving in and out of traffic and passing and cutting off stopped school buses and blowing the light at Allegheny Rd and passing cars in the right shoulder when the right lane ended to acheive 60 on Peterson in a 55 to bypass the backup at 120 and Hainsville Rd and the train tracks.  (5) Swerving in and out of traffic and passing cars in the right shoulder and in the left turn lane at the merge of Peterson and Rt 60 and turning left on red at 60 and 120 to achieve 50 on Rt 60 in a 55 to bypass the backup at 120 and Fairfield. 

    (6)  Turning into Volo Village Rd to bypass the backup at 120 and 12.  Passing cars on the gravel shoulder to turn right off of Volo Village Rd.  Use the left turn lane on the wrong side of the road on Rt 12 before the median begins to make a U turn and turn into a gravel parking lot before traffic rear ends you.  Then hop a couple curbs and drive through the garden center gravel parking lot and turn onto Volo Village Rd.  Then turn right from Volo Village Rd onto 120.

    (7) Swerving in and out of traffic to achieve 60 on Rt 120 west of Volo in a 45 and turning left on red at Darrel and 120 and driving 50 in a 35 over pot holes on Burnet Rd to bypass the backup at 176 and Darrel and hitting the breaks where the speed limit lowers to 25 where there is always a cop.

  40 min instead of an hour and a half by breaking alot of laws and putting more wear and tear on the car driving the car like the Bourne Identity.

    In the future, I should never put myself in a situation where I have to drive this fast to make money to have to make money this fast to be in a situation needing to make fast money and needing to sell things to be able to pay court costs and fines for a speeding ticket and not having insurance to be able to keep my license.

   Or, maybe less laws would be needed to be broken to drive 20 miles in 40 min in rush hour if the following road improvements were made:

(1) Widen Rt 41 from 4 lanes to 6 lanes from Rt 132 to Rt 120,

(2) Construction of a freeway interchange at O'plaine Rd and Rt 120,

(3) (4) (5) Construction of a Grayslake freeway bypass,

(6) Construction of a freeway interchange at Rt 12 and Rt 120,

(7) and Construction of a very long right turn lane at southbound Darrel Rd and Rt 176 and widening Rt 176 to 4 lanes from east of Darrel Rd to west of Darrel Rd.

But who will pay for this.


triplemultiplex

I could make a comment about drivers from Illinois right now, but it'd be too easy. :-D
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

Brandon

Quote from: triplemultiplex on February 05, 2016, 08:03:08 PM
I could make a comment about drivers from Illinois right now, but it'd be too easy. :-D

I believe the term F.I.B. is what you're looking for.  :rofl:
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

ChiMilNet

It's quite apparent that the state of highway infrastructure in Lake County is unacceptable. I travel to and from work through the Buffalo Grove/Long Grove area. Buffalo Grove seems to suffer from a case of "uncoordinated stoplights", and Long Grove simply has inadequate highway capacity. Some of these issues could easily be fixed be properly timing stoplights (I'm looking at you Lake County Highway Department). However, in areas like Long Grove and Hawthorne Woods, they brought a lot of it on themselves by being incredibly short sighted about highway expansion (i.e. IL 53 extension). Driving in those areas is nothing short of painful and aggravating. That is just one area.

Joe The Dragon

They need build IL-120 / IL-53 with full interchange at IL-120 / I-94.

dzlsabe

#5
LakeCos got so many problems its hard to prioritize. Could be the best suburban nightmare in the country. The Tollway treats it like one big bypass. So US41 is/has been under-developed for decades. IL53 remains a pipe-dream. A quarter-mile south of Lake-Cook, the missing ramps on the Edens spur mean Lake-Cook, Deerfield, Halfday, even Waukegan Rd remain quaint. My favorite LakeCo intersection has got to be ILs 60 and 21 in Vernon Hills. What is it now? A two ten-lane collision. When does a bridge get built? Four-lane 176? Ever? Never. And thats just the SE 1/4. No doubt the rest hasnt changed much in FIFTY years.
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:

quickshade

The problem is nobody ever predicted the suburb boom that happened. It wasn't just one area blowing up, it was like overnight McHenry, Lake, Kane, Kendall counties exploded in population. The state, counties and cities had to act fast, but the problem was that the cities had to beef up their own roads and infrastructure to handle the increase in people/traffic. So did the counties and so did the state. This led to plans that didn't cross all 3 lines, so you solved one problem but created 3 more because you didn't communicate, coordinate and study everything, and even if you did the explosive growth would produce results that didn't reflect what actual traffic would be like.

Once the boom died, our economy went to, and while this gave time to properly study a lot of these problem areas nobody had the money to invest to fix them. Most of the major projects are about 10-20 years behind, sometimes more. And while money has become less of a worry Illinois still hasn't solved the political bickering that holds these projects back.

Now Lake county to their credit has been on a major push these past few years to get congestion projects done, and 2 of them use to be on my way to work and I have to give them credit they solved the congestion in those areas. But the problem is that so many projects need to get done that unless some major money gets thrown down on the table and the political back and forth stops the pace will always be behind what it should be.

To put things in perspective, 20 years ago, when I traveled with my dad a lot to job sites, we would take the "backroads" those roads would be nothing but cornfields and 2 way stops, with maybe an open field or old small town in them. Nowadays when someone says backroads, it's not the road with farm fields or open areas, it's through villages with the least amount of stoplights.

silverback1065

the chicago area really suffers from not building all of the original highways that were proposed.

johndoe780

Quote from: quickshade on February 06, 2016, 05:00:37 PM
The problem is nobody ever predicted the suburb boom that happened. It wasn't just one area blowing up, it was like overnight McHenry, Lake, Kane, Kendall counties exploded in population. The state, counties and cities had to act fast, but the problem was that the cities had to beef up their own roads and infrastructure to handle the increase in people/traffic. So did the counties and so did the state. This led to plans that didn't cross all 3 lines, so you solved one problem but created 3 more because you didn't communicate, coordinate and study everything, and even if you did the explosive growth would produce results that didn't reflect what actual traffic would be like.

Once the boom died, our economy went to, and while this gave time to properly study a lot of these problem areas nobody had the money to invest to fix them. Most of the major projects are about 10-20 years behind, sometimes more. And while money has become less of a worry Illinois still hasn't solved the political bickering that holds these projects back.

Now Lake county to their credit has been on a major push these past few years to get congestion projects done, and 2 of them use to be on my way to work and I have to give them credit they solved the congestion in those areas. But the problem is that so many projects need to get done that unless some major money gets thrown down on the table and the political back and forth stops the pace will always be behind what it should be.

To put things in perspective, 20 years ago, when I traveled with my dad a lot to job sites, we would take the "backroads" those roads would be nothing but cornfields and 2 way stops, with maybe an open field or old small town in them. Nowadays when someone says backroads, it's not the road with farm fields or open areas, it's through villages with the least amount of stoplights.

Now imagine if Lake county actually *gasp* raises their share of the gas tax to 4 cents a gallon.

Imagine all the riots over a mind boggling 4 cents a gallon. For my 15 gallon tank car, that would be a ridicilous 60 cents a gallon!!!

Agreed that Lake county does a decent job, but Lake county should just friggin raise the gas tax and help ITHSA build the 53 expansion north and the gas tax would help supplement fixing other roads as well.

dzlsabe

Raise the fuel tax? Sure. But the state-sponsored mafia ISTHA will guarantee a no go. They dont let ANY competing route cut into "their" action.
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:

quickshade

I agree we need to increase the gas tax, but the problem is that everyone wants to do it now, with gas being so cheap, back when it was 4 dollars a gallon that would never happen, not in a million years. So I fear if we do it now and prices go up people will be asking for relief at the pump and the first thing that will be mentioned is cutting the gas tax back to where it was.

Personally i'm for raising the gas tax, but I think people want to know where that money is going to go. As in what roads and how long. I don't want to be paying for roads I won't see for another 10 years, thats not a fix of the problem.

I also think we need federal investment in infrastructure, it's one of the biggest problems these nation faces and we aren't doing enough to fix it. cut back on some of the loopholes in corporate taxing and make them pay their fair share, but make it an investment, they can invest the money into our infrastructure to improve it or pay more in taxes. Let them be able to write some of the money they invest off of their taxes. So in reality the companies that invest pay basically a little more than they pay now, and the ones that don't pay higher taxes to the government.

And to be clear i'm not talking small businesses, i'm talking big companies making huge profits, if they aren't going to reinvest it in themselves, reinvest it in they infrastructure you use then.

johndoe780

Lake county doesn't currently charge a gas tax of 4 cents like what Kane and Dupage counties do.

They're allowed to charge up to a max of 4 cents per gallon, but they just don't.

sipes23

I did 176 from Crystal Lake to Wauconda and later to Mundelein for several years. Everything from the "Lake County" sign east was a mess, but 176 east of Wauconda is the worst ever. My hat is off to the OP for managing Waukegan to Island Lake in 40 minutes.

I do not miss that commute at all.

captkirk_4

I remember around 1983 or so as a kid going from up Route 12 from Mt. Prospect to Lake Geneva was a fairly quick drive without many traffic lights past Lake Zurich. A couple years ago when visiting the area went up to Volo Bog on a Saturday and oh my gosh was there the traffic and new stoplights seemed to have popped up every half mile. What a horrible county to drive any distance in.

Joe The Dragon

Quote from: captkirk_4 on February 13, 2016, 02:03:49 PM
I remember around 1983 or so as a kid going from up Route 12 from Mt. Prospect to Lake Geneva was a fairly quick drive without many traffic lights past Lake Zurich. A couple years ago when visiting the area went up to Volo Bog on a Saturday and oh my gosh was there the traffic and new stoplights seemed to have popped up every half mile. What a horrible county to drive any distance in.

and from that time to now very little has been done in that area.

paulthemapguy

Quote from: Brandon on February 05, 2016, 11:58:49 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on February 05, 2016, 08:03:08 PM
I could make a comment about drivers from Illinois right now, but it'd be too easy. :-D

I believe the term F.I.B. is what you're looking for.  :rofl:

As a side note, I made the mistake of telling my friend from Ohio about F.I.B.s.  I said something like "that's what the people from Wisconsin call us as we annoyingly flood their state with our tourism."  He now refers to Illinois as "Fibtopia" and my car is known as the "Fibcopter."  :-D
Avatar is the last interesting highway I clinched.
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Brandon

Quote from: paulthemapguy on February 17, 2016, 11:26:39 AM
Quote from: Brandon on February 05, 2016, 11:58:49 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on February 05, 2016, 08:03:08 PM
I could make a comment about drivers from Illinois right now, but it'd be too easy. :-D

I believe the term F.I.B. is what you're looking for.  :rofl:

As a side note, I made the mistake of telling my friend from Ohio about F.I.B.s.  I said something like "that's what the people from Wisconsin call us as we annoyingly flood their state with our tourism."  He now refers to Illinois as "Fibtopia" and my car is known as the "Fibcopter."  :-D

I usually refer to it as "Fibistan". :-D
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

abefroman329

Quote from: Brandon on February 05, 2016, 11:58:49 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on February 05, 2016, 08:03:08 PM
I could make a comment about drivers from Illinois right now, but it'd be too easy. :-D

I believe the term F.I.B. is what you're looking for.  :rofl:

Don't forget the subspecies, the FISHTAB.

triplemultiplex

I will admit that one doesn't need to spend too much time driving the suburban wastelands around Chicago to understand why vehicles with Illinois tags drive the way they do when they come up here.  They are so not used to wide open roads with mild traffic, they go whole hog on the accelerator.  I-39 is a 200 mile drag strip to the Northwoods for them.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

I-39

All of the traffic problems in Lake County are basically the result of not building the IL-53/120 extension as an Interstate (including the McHenry/Richmond leg).

The end.

ChiMilNet

Quote from: I-39 on February 19, 2016, 05:50:24 PM
All of the traffic problems in Lake County are basically the result of not building the IL-53/120 extension as an Interstate (including the McHenry/Richmond leg).

The end.

Not quite ALL of them... but close to 90%!

dzlsabe

I wont disagree, but explain IL-60 and 21 in VH. Or Edens Spur?
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:

quickshade

Overlooking the fact that this is a bunch of rich self entitled asshats that want everyone else to suffer because they feel entitled to be better than everyone else. Someone should study how the reduced congestion around Lake and McHenry counties from building 53/120 would lead to any reduced emissions because of less cars sitting at traffic lights or stuck in traffic jams. I'd be interested to see if building it with environmental concerns about the land being observed and maintained when possible would be better or worse for the overall environment because of reduced emissions in the area.

ChiMilNet

Quote from: quickshade on February 20, 2016, 10:40:11 AM
Overlooking the fact that this is a bunch of rich self entitled asshats that want everyone else to suffer because they feel entitled to be better than everyone else. Someone should study how the reduced congestion around Lake and McHenry counties from building 53/120 would lead to any reduced emissions because of less cars sitting at traffic lights or stuck in traffic jams. I'd be interested to see if building it with environmental concerns about the land being observed and maintained when possible would be better or worse for the overall environment because of reduced emissions in the area.

If current Route 53 through Long Grove is any indication... I'd be SHOCKED if it didn't have some impact on emissions!

tribar

Speaking of Lake County, why are they putting new lights at 12 & Ela? The existing ones were only 5-6 years old.



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