Is Chicago done with new expressways?

[silverback1065]

SR 53 may be built, and SR 390 (I think will be I-390 or 490 in the future) is being built.

[abefroman329]

SR 53 may be built, and SR 390 (I think will be I-390 or 490 in the future) is being built.

Maybe I-390 one day, but I-490 is a different road entirely.

[Brandon]

I can't think of anything more depressing than getting a strip of highway named after me.

Getting a sewage treatment plant named after me. Or maybe a jail.

With our politicians, he/she could be spending a lot of time at the jail named for him/her.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I can't think of anything more depressing than getting a strip of highway named after me.

Getting a sewage treatment plant named after me.

Abe Froman's so full of shit it only makes sense.

*is promptly escorted out*

[froggie]

^ Maybe there's a reason he was the "sausage king of Chicago"...?

[Flint1979]

I always assumed (quite possibly incorrectly) that the Ike was named the Ike, to honor Ike for the System of Interstate Defense Highways

Illinois is one of the few states I have noticed traveling, to sign the Interstate shield with the blue "Eisenhower Interstate System"  with the 5-Star logo sign below the shield, typically on one of the first Reassurance shields in the state (interstate) or on the route (intrastate)

I believe the Ike was originally the Congress Expressway, as the Westward Expressway (Freeway would be more appropriate now) continuation of Congress Parkway Downtown

It was originally the Congress Expressway. It was renamed in 1964.

[Revive 755]

Besides, wasn't a portion of I-55 through Dwight (of all places) renamed for Obama?

There is a brown sign on NB I-55 north of Bloomington-Normal and well south of I-80 (I think it was south of Dwight) with 'Barrack Obama Presidential Expressway' or something similar.

[edwaleni]

US 34 is signed the "Walter Payton Memorial Highway" from Chicago to Burlington, Iowa.  Definitely not a politician.

When I was a kid, US-40 was called the "Cumberland Road".  After I-70 was built, I don't think anyone calls it that now. 

[Road Hog]

It's often joked that the Ike is Chicago's only expressway named after a Republican.  Edens, Kennedy, Ryan, and Stevenson were all Democrats.  (I-88, the Reagan Twy exists outside the city limits.)

So why did Chicago choose Eisenhower for an expressway name?  He was from Texas.  Did he ever live in Illinois?

Ike was born in Denison, Texas but grew up in Kansas and spent his adult life moving from military base to military base until WWII. He may have been based in Illinois at one point, but no matter, he was a national hero anyway.

[Flint1979]

US 34 is signed the "Walter Payton Memorial Highway" from Chicago to Burlington, Iowa.  Definitely not a politician.

When I was a kid, US-40 was called the "Cumberland Road".  After I-70 was built, I don't think anyone calls it that now.

US-34 isn't an expressway though and is better known as Ogden Avenue in the Chicago area.

[Flint1979]

Besides, wasn't a portion of I-55 through Dwight (of all places) renamed for Obama?

There is a brown sign on NB I-55 north of Bloomington-Normal and well south of I-80 (I think it was south of Dwight) with 'Barrack Obama Presidential Expressway' or something similar.

It's right at MM 202 on the NB side. I passed it a few months ago.

[paulthemapguy]

So why did Chicago choose Eisenhower for an expressway name?  He was from Texas.  Did he ever live in Illinois?

The Interstate highway system was invented via an act that Eisenhower signed.  Many people credit him for starting the Interstates, and the full name of the Interstate highway system is named in his honor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System

[froggie]

^ Crediting Ike with "inventing" the Interstate system is factually incorrect, as it ignores the work that was done on the system (at the direction of Congress) in the 1940s.  FDR actually had the original genesis of the idea (BPR creating the Toll Roads and Free Roads report in 1939), while the initial approval of the system (base routings and mileage) was during the Truman years (1947 specifically).

Where proper credit should be given to Ike was in pushing for the financing of the Interstate system.  That's really what the 1956 act he championed was...the funding for it.

[Beltway]

The Toll Roads and Free Roads report was a very limited system with 3 north-south and 3 east-west routes, and they didn't even firm up a modern definition of freeway as it applied to the Interstate system as it was approved in 1956, namely divided highways with 4 or more lanes and with limited access right-of-way and full grade separation of all crossroads and with interchanges.

No president can take credit for "inventing" or the "original genesis of the idea" for the Interstate highway system.  It was primarily the bailiwick of the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and the U.S. Congress.

Thomas H. MacDonald, who headed the FHWA's predecessor agencies from 1919 to 1953, and his top assistant, Herbert Fairbank, were recognized as highway authorities internationally.  During the 1920s and 1930s, they helped the State highway agencies to create the Nation's first "interstate system" in the form of paved two-lane U.S. numbered highways.  Fairbank wrote the 1939 report to Congress, Toll Roads and Free Roads in which he and MacDonald conceived what is now called the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/mcdonaldtoll.cfm

[edwaleni]

Ike inventing the Interstate Highway System is like saying Al Gore invented the internet.

As a previous poster noted, Ike spearheaded the funding model through Congress.  He saw how the autobahn's in Germany were effective not just for public transport but also for movement of defense. He said so in his memoirs.

Ike was part of a Army mobilization exercise prior to WW2 where they tried to move assets west without using trains or ships. It failed miserably. He had first hand experience in how poor roads could impact defense capacity.

Al Gore was on a science sub-committee in Congress that reviewed DARPA's request to fund the foundations of which became the internet.  He voted to provide DARPA the funds.

Interesting also is the fact that Ike also saw the destruction of Garfield Park in Chicago to build the Congress Extension. He wanted to know what was going on and they told him. He wasn't happy.  Irony is rich that they named the road after him. He saw the Interstates as a regional transportation option, not a interurban method. Urban mayors with labor unions pushing from behind wanted to see the money spent on urban highways as it meant fat contracts and jobs. Mayors saw the jobs as extending influence and votes.

Both Ike and the mayors got way more than they anticipated.

The highway bill killed many bus and interurban train/trolley lines in the cities. Neighborhoods were destroyed to clear the land for the new roads.  The new ease of entering and exiting the urban centers facilitated urban flight to the suburbs and those same mayors lost the very influence they sought when grabbing the money as the population shifted.

Chicago is prime example #1 of what happens to urban centers when mega-millions is poured into a single transportation method.

[kphoger]

The highway bill killed many bus and interurban train/trolley lines in the cities. Neighborhoods were destroyed to clear the land for the new roads.  The new ease of entering and exiting the urban centers facilitated urban flight to the suburbs and those same mayors lost the very influence they sought when grabbing the money as the population shifted.

Chicago is prime example #1 of what happens to urban centers when mega-millions is poured into a single transportation method.

Interesting, however, that Chicago still has a vibrant downtown, one remaining interurban railway, and a busy bus terminal.  I think that's due to it's enormous size.

[ilpt4u]

The highway bill killed many bus and interurban train/trolley lines in the cities. Neighborhoods were destroyed to clear the land for the new roads.  The new ease of entering and exiting the urban centers facilitated urban flight to the suburbs and those same mayors lost the very influence they sought when grabbing the money as the population shifted.

Chicago is prime example #1 of what happens to urban centers when mega-millions is poured into a single transportation method.

Interesting, however, that Chicago still has a vibrant downtown, one remaining interurban railway, and a busy bus terminal.  I think that's due to it's enormous size.

One remaining interurban railway?

Howso? Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Canadian National (maybe others?) all have significant interurban routes radiating from Chicago

The Amtrak Passenger service is all served out of a single station - Union Station Downtown, which sees significant use as a Chicagoland commuter rail station also. But in the Midwest, Amtrak does not own the tracks/routes, as they run on the Private Railroad Routes

[kphoger]

The highway bill killed many bus and interurban train/trolley lines in the cities. Neighborhoods were destroyed to clear the land for the new roads.  The new ease of entering and exiting the urban centers facilitated urban flight to the suburbs and those same mayors lost the very influence they sought when grabbing the money as the population shifted.

Chicago is prime example #1 of what happens to urban centers when mega-millions is poured into a single transportation method.

Interesting, however, that Chicago still has a vibrant downtown, one remaining interurban railway, and a busy bus terminal.  I think that's due to it's enormous size.

One remaining interurban railway?

Howso? Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Canadian National (maybe others?) all have significant interurban routes radiating from Chicago

The Amtrak Passenger service is all served out of a single station - Union Station Downtown, which sees significant use as a Chicagoland commuter rail station also. But in the Midwest, Amtrak does not own the tracks/routes, as they run on the Private Railroad Routes

"Interurban" refers to something fairly specific, not just any train service between cities.  The South Shore Line (NICTD) between Chicago and South Bend is one of the few remaining interurban rail services left in America.  The Metra lines you mention should all be referred to as "suburban rail" or "commuter rail," and Amtrak as simply "passenger rail."

[ilpt4u]

I always thought of the South Shore Line as another Commuter line, similar to the Metra routes

I guess South Bend is slightly east of the Greater Chicagoland Area - but not by much

[inkyatari]

The highway bill killed many bus and interurban train/trolley lines in the cities. Neighborhoods were destroyed to clear the land for the new roads.  The new ease of entering and exiting the urban centers facilitated urban flight to the suburbs and those same mayors lost the very influence they sought when grabbing the money as the population shifted.

Chicago is prime example #1 of what happens to urban centers when mega-millions is poured into a single transportation method.

Interesting, however, that Chicago still has a vibrant downtown, one remaining interurban railway, and a busy bus terminal.  I think that's due to it's enormous size.

One remaining interurban railway?

Howso? Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Canadian National (maybe others?) all have significant interurban routes radiating from Chicago

The Amtrak Passenger service is all served out of a single station - Union Station Downtown, which sees significant use as a Chicagoland commuter rail station also. But in the Midwest, Amtrak does not own the tracks/routes, as they run on the Private Railroad Routes

"Interurban" refers to something fairly specific, not just any train service between cities.  The South Shore Line (NICTD) between Chicago and South Bend is one of the few remaining interurban rail services left in America.  The Metra lines you mention should all be referred to as "suburban rail" or "commuter rail," and Amtrak as simply "passenger rail."

I've been trying to locate the old interurban rail line that went from Joliet, IL to Princeton, IL (through Minooka, Morris, Ottawa, Lasalle - Peru,) and it's been pretty interesting tracing the routes.

[abefroman329]

I always thought of the South Shore Line as another Commuter line, similar to the Metra routes

It is, it just happens to be a commuter line with some street running through Michigan City.

[SEWIGuy]

I always thought of the South Shore Line as another Commuter line, similar to the Metra routes

I guess South Bend is slightly east of the Greater Chicagoland Area - but not by much

Shouldn't the Amtrak between Milwaukee and Chicago be considered "interurban?"

[abefroman329]

I always thought of the South Shore Line as another Commuter line, similar to the Metra routes

I guess South Bend is slightly east of the Greater Chicagoland Area - but not by much

Shouldn't the Amtrak between Milwaukee and Chicago be considered "interurban?"

"Interurban" is a pretty specific term in this case that refers to train lines that ran on grade-separated track as well as street-running segments, with stops on the street-running segments, and, in the Chicago area, occasionally on CTA trackage.  The old North Shore Line is another example of an interurban, as well as the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin.

[SEWIGuy]

I always thought of the South Shore Line as another Commuter line, similar to the Metra routes

I guess South Bend is slightly east of the Greater Chicagoland Area - but not by much

Shouldn't the Amtrak between Milwaukee and Chicago be considered "interurban?"

"Interurban" is a pretty specific term in this case that refers to train lines that ran on grade-separated track as well as street-running segments, with stops on the street-running segments, and, in the Chicago area, occasionally on CTA trackage.  The old North Shore Line is another example of an interurban, as well as the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin.

So it's a distinction without a difference then.

[NWI_Irish96]

I always thought of the South Shore Line as another Commuter line, similar to the Metra routes

I guess South Bend is slightly east of the Greater Chicagoland Area - but not by much

Metra is a network with Chicago as its hub.  South Shore is a line between two cities.