Illinois 53 Extension

[Revive 755]

^ There's a difference between easy to build and a motivated DOT/Toll Authority working to build the project, the latter of which is lacking for the corridor.

[I-39]

^ There's a difference between easy to build and a motivated DOT/Toll Authority working to build the project, the latter of which is lacking for the corridor.

Even if they were motivated, there are still environmental issues which they wouldn't get clearance for (they've consistently said this), plus the massive amount of $$$ it would cost to build at this point would be an obstacle (it would be way more than the main IL-53 extension would cost).

Any dreams of FAP 420 died in the mid-90s IMO.

[US20IL64]

Way back, should have connected the 53 X-way to IL 83 to near Buffalo Grove. 

At least put in 4 lane IL 120, please,

[Icyhot1111]

While browsing parcels on the McHenry County Assessor map, I noticed continuous parcels of land from Richmond through Wonder Lake.  After some googling and research on this site, it appears that it was meant for a Route 31 Richmond Bypass?  I am just curious as to when IDOT acquired this land...1990's, 2000's?  Since IDOT still owns the land, i guess it's safe to say that the bypass isn't totally dead?

[edwaleni]

While browsing parcels on the McHenry County Assessor map, I noticed continuous parcels of land from Richmond through Wonder Lake.  After some googling and research on this site, it appears that it was meant for a Route 31 Richmond Bypass?  I am just curious as to when IDOT acquired this land...1990's, 2000's?  Since IDOT still owns the land, i guess it's safe to say that the bypass isn't totally dead?

Probably belongs in its own thread since this has little relationship to IL-53.

It's part of the Lake County/McHenry County East-West project. (IL-120) IL-53 is supposed to terminate at its north end to it.

IDOT owns various parcel across Lake and McHenry County all the way to the ILL/WISC state line where it was supposed to join the US-12 freeway in Wisconsin at Genoa City.  If you look a Google Maps of Genoa City, you will see landscaping supporting the US-12 Freeway into Illinois.

As it cuts across it was to run next to Baxter HQ and you will see several subdivisions with gaps in them where IDOT has reserved the ROW.

The intersection with IL-53 is just south of Grayslake between Allegheny Park and the Grayslake Business Park.

IDOT started acquiring the land for the US-12 NW Freeway shortly after WW2 and continued to acquire land well into the late 1980's.

There are some major issues however as there is a gap in ownership and reservation south of Volo Bog. A multi-million dollar house development was allowed west of Baxter HQ (Anthony Lane) and unless IDOT starts buying out the houses as they turn over, they will never get the public to allow a mass tear down event.

[Henry]

While browsing parcels on the McHenry County Assessor map, I noticed continuous parcels of land from Richmond through Wonder Lake.  After some googling and research on this site, it appears that it was meant for a Route 31 Richmond Bypass?  I am just curious as to when IDOT acquired this land...1990's, 2000's?  Since IDOT still owns the land, i guess it's safe to say that the bypass isn't totally dead?

Probably belongs in its own thread since this has little to no relationship to IL-53.

And not only that, it doesn't even connect to IL 53!

[Icyhot1111]

Sorry, guys.  I thought I saw previous discussion of this bypass in this thread. 

[hobsini2]

Actually, I believe the ORIGINAL plan was to link the US 12 Freeway to the IL 53 Freeway. I say it does belong as part of that context. The ISTHA changing their mind about what should link to it does not change the original intent. Icy, no need to apologize.

[mgk920]

Actually, I believe the ORIGINAL plan was to link the US 12 Freeway to the IL 53 Freeway. I say it does belong as part of that context. The ISTHA changing their mind about what should link to it does not change the original intent. Icy, no need to apologize.

In fact, I'm pretty much convinced that this was the originally planned routing of I-90.  It would certainly be a six lane or more highway the entire way between Chicagoland and at least Madison today had it been built back then.

Mike

[NE2]

In fact, I'm pretty much convinced that this was the originally planned routing of I-90.

It wasn't.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_1939.jpg (via Milwaukee only)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_ca_1943.jpg (via Milwaukee and via Rockford)
No changes after then:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_2,_1947_big_text.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_September_1955.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_14,_1957.jpg

[edwaleni]

I don't want to stray too far here, but IDOT had laid out some pre-Interstate core routes leading to and from Chicago. They started acquiring ROW just before WW2 in small amounts, but picked up the pace after WW2.

US41 - North
US12 - Northwest
US20 - West #1
US30 - West #2
US34 - West #3
US66 - Southwest
US54 - South

Much of these plans were either stopped, replaced or converted to either ISTHA or Interstate routes.

US41 became the I-94/Tollroad
US12 NW Tollroad removed most of the requirements
US20 was stopped and started, but never completed. See the Elgin-OHare and the NW Tollway
US30 was only partially built, and was superceded by the East-West Tollway (I-88)
US34 several bypasses were completed of suburban city centers. E-W Tollway removed most of the requirements
US66 became I-55
US54 became I-57

[US20IL64]

Original US 41 still exists in Lake Co. And south of Old Orchard.
US 54 angled to the west after Kankakee, then US 45 is near I 57.

E-W Tollway used to connect to US 30 in Sugar Grove, now the IL 56 extension.

[edwaleni]

Original US 41 still exists in Lake Co. And south of Old Orchard.
US 54 angled to the west after Kankakee, then US 45 is near I 57.

E-W Tollway used to connect to US 30 in Sugar Grove, now the IL 56 extension.

The original plan for US30 was the West Suburban Expressway which was never built. IL-56 was built on the ROW instead.

Ages ago US30 (Lincoln Highway) used to be on Roosevelt Road and was renamed ALT 30 when Lincoln Highway was moved as a regional bypass south of Chicago. Today ALT 30 is IL38.

After the E-W Tollroad was built to West Aurora, IDOT decided to implement a small remnant of the US30 Expressway plan with the dip down to Sugar Grove to meet with the current US 30.

After I-57 was built as far as Clifton, US 54 became redundant and IDOT started decommissioning the route number. Today all is left is a small part in western illinois from Louisiana MO to I-72 near Griggsville. I-57 followed US 45 to Effingham.

[Molandfreak]

In fact, I'm pretty much convinced that this was the originally planned routing of I-90.

It wasn't.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_1939.jpg (via Milwaukee only)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_ca_1943.jpg (via Milwaukee and via Rockford)
No changes after then:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_2,_1947_big_text.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_September_1955.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_14,_1957.jpg

Which begs the question: why in the world did I-90 have to serve Rockford? I'm sure even back then there were quite a number of folks who would appreciate the time saved by cutting that corner.

[hobsini2]

Original US 41 still exists in Lake Co. And south of Old Orchard.
US 54 angled to the west after Kankakee, then US 45 is near I 57.

E-W Tollway used to connect to US 30 in Sugar Grove, now the IL 56 extension.

The original plan for US30 was the West Suburban Expressway which was never built. IL-56 was built on the ROW instead.

Ages ago US30 (Lincoln Highway) used to be on Roosevelt Road and was renamed ALT 30 when Lincoln Highway was moved as a regional bypass south of Chicago. Today ALT 30 is IL38.

After the E-W Tollroad was built to West Aurora, IDOT decided to implement a small remnant of the US30 Expressway plan with the dip down to Sugar Grove to meet with the current US 30.

After I-57 was built as far as Clifton, US 54 became redundant and IDOT started decommissioning the route number. Today all is left is a small part in western illinois from Louisiana MO to I-72 near Griggsville. I-57 followed US 45 to Effingham.

Old US 54 from Springfield to Clifton is IL 54 now.

[silverback1065]

Interesting. I really like hearing about road history and why roads ended up the way they did. I always thought it was weird how US 30 zig zags its way north in the burbs. This explains why. What was it's old alignment? Also, I don't get on this thread much, is this 53 project actually going to happen one day or is it a pipe dream? Is the US 12 freeway possible or completely dead? Is the 390 going to go any further west? again forgive the barrage of questions I know very little about the Chicago metro road projects.

[edwaleni]

Interesting. I really like hearing about road history and why roads ended up the way they did. I always thought it was weird how US 30 zig zags its way north in the burbs. This explains why. What was it's old alignment? Also, I don't get on this thread much, is this 53 project actually going to happen one day or is it a pipe dream? Is the US 12 freeway possible or completely dead? Is the 390 going to go any further west? again forgive the barrage of questions I know very little about the Chicago metro road projects.

The IL-53 Extension is in a deep freeze at the moment. Not dead, but not going anywhere. IDOT has not sold the land and is still retaining its ROW.

The US-12 Freeway is only viable between Genoa City WI and Grayslake, IL. Due to suburban growth, the original ROW for most of US-12 is now a suburban arterial. Certain parts show where the idea was to take form, the most obvious is the EJ&E (now CN) bridge that was built in 1942. There is a duplicate of that bridge over IL-56 in Warrenville where the West Suburban Freeway was supposed to go.

I would surmise that until there is a local agreement on how to traverse Volo Bog, it will also remain in a deep freeze.

IDOT owns the land (90%) to extend I-390 from Lake Street all the way to the US-20 Bypass of Elgin. The most viable of that extension is between Lake Street and IL-59.

At the last public hearing that I can remember on it in the 1980's, it was the ROW between IL-59 and the bypass in Elgin that ran into a lot of public and business resistance. The most contentious was the intersection of Naperville Road/Elizabeth Street. Villa Olivia golf/ski area along with 3 car dealers are at that intersection and IDOT was going to have to take some land from each of them to create an exit. When the ROW was acquired in the 1950's, this was farmland. IDOT had planned to simply bridge over it and the locals didn't like it.

Everytime IDOT held a hearing, public feedback required them to acquire more ROW, which in turn created yet more resistance. So they did nothing.

[silverback1065]

Interesting. I really like hearing about road history and why roads ended up the way they did. I always thought it was weird how US 30 zig zags its way north in the burbs. This explains why. What was it's old alignment? Also, I don't get on this thread much, is this 53 project actually going to happen one day or is it a pipe dream? Is the US 12 freeway possible or completely dead? Is the 390 going to go any further west? again forgive the barrage of questions I know very little about the Chicago metro road projects.

interesting, thanks for the info!

The IL-53 Extension is in a deep freeze at the moment. Not dead, but not going anywhere. IDOT has not sold the land and is still retaining its ROW.

The US-12 Freeway is only viable between Genoa City WI and Grayslake, IL. Due to suburban growth, the original ROW for most of US-12 is now a suburban arterial. Certain parts show where the idea was to take form, the most obvious is the EJ&E (now CN) bridge that was built in 1942. There is a duplicate of that bridge over IL-56 in Warrenville where the West Suburban Freeway was supposed to go.

I would surmise that until there is a local agreement on how to traverse Volo Bog, it will also remain in a deep freeze.

IDOT owns the land (90%) to extend I-390 from Lake Street all the way to the US-20 Bypass of Elgin. The most viable of that extension is between Lake Street and IL-59.

At the last public hearing that I can remember on it in the 1980's, it was the ROW between IL-59 and the bypass in Elgin that ran into a lot of public and business resistance. The most contentious was the intersection of Naperville Road/Elizabeth Street. Villa Olivia golf/ski area along with 3 car dealers are at that intersection and IDOT was going to have to take some land from each of them to create an exit. When the ROW was acquired in the 1950's, this was farmland. IDOT had planned to simply bridge over it and the locals didn't like it.

Everytime IDOT held a hearing, public feedback required them to acquire more ROW, which in turn created yet more resistance. So they did nothing.

[edwaleni]

Which begs the question: why in the world did I-90 have to serve Rockford? I'm sure even back then there were quite a number of folks who would appreciate the time saved by cutting that corner.

ISTHA is a political animal, and therefore it was routed to serve the constituencies of the state that approves it.

Its the same reason people ask, why does I-88 take such a northern jog after Aurora? It was because the constituencies of DeKalb and Northern Illinois University demanded that a new expressway pass next to them, so it was. But it nearly broke the highway as a tollroad as they couldn't collect enough tolls between DeKalb and Rock Falls to cover the bonds. That is why for many years that section was in a non-typical form of neglect. When the Illinois Legislature reauthorized ISTHA, they were permitted to refinance their bonds en masse, vs only bonding certain sections.  Shortly after that happened, I-88 west of DeKalb was rebuilt. Basically, Tri-State toll revenue is subsidizing that road past DeKalb.

This is why certain legislators in southern Illinois have been asking for ISTHA to be authorized to build highways in the south. They want to tap into that revenue source.

[mgk920]

In fact, I'm pretty much convinced that this was the originally planned routing of I-90.

It wasn't.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_1939.jpg (via Milwaukee only)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_ca_1943.jpg (via Milwaukee and via Rockford)
No changes after then:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_2,_1947_big_text.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_September_1955.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_14,_1957.jpg

Which begs the question: why in the world did I-90 have to serve Rockford? I'm sure even back then there were quite a number of folks who would appreciate the time saved by cutting that corner.

Before the interstates, weren't there planes for a cross-country 'ticket' tollway to run from the then stub end of the Skyway (that was later extended to feed into the Dan Ryan Expressway as I-90) and on to at least the MSTP metro area via the US 12 corridor?

Mike

[hobsini2]

Interesting. I really like hearing about road history and why roads ended up the way they did. I always thought it was weird how US 30 zig zags its way north in the burbs. This explains why. What was it's old alignment? Also, I don't get on this thread much, is this 53 project actually going to happen one day or is it a pipe dream? Is the US 12 freeway possible or completely dead? Is the 390 going to go any further west? again forgive the barrage of questions I know very little about the Chicago metro road projects.

Currently, ISTHA is building the I-490 O'Hare West Bypass (https://agency.illinoistollway.com/web/guest/projects) from I-294 near Grand Ave (Sat image: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9372391,-87.9151289,676m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) to I-90 where the Des Plaines Oasis (sat image: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.013508,-87.9291035,1085m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) was.

Planned Interchanges also at:
- IL 72 Higgins Rd
- IL 390 / Future O'Hare West Terminal
- IL 19 Irving Park Rd
- Franklin St / Green St

This is to be completed sometime in 2027.

The other project in the short term is the West extension of IL 390 to County Farm Rd / Barrington Rd. That was in a study in 2023.

[Rick Powell]

The other project in the short term is the West extension of IL 390 to County Farm Rd / Barrington Rd. That was in a study in 2023.

Here's a link to that one, basically two long ramps from County Farm Road to the current west end of IL 390.
https://agency.illinoistollway.com/outreach/projects-in-your-community/us20-interchange-improvement-study

[NE2]

In fact, I'm pretty much convinced that this was the originally planned routing of I-90.

It wasn't.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_1939.jpg (via Milwaukee only)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interregional_Highway_plan_ca_1943.jpg (via Milwaukee and via Rockford)
No changes after then:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_2,_1947_big_text.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_September_1955.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_14,_1957.jpg

Which begs the question: why in the world did I-90 have to serve Rockford? I'm sure even back then there were quite a number of folks who would appreciate the time saved by cutting that corner.

Before the interstates, weren't there planes for a cross-country 'ticket' tollway to run from the then stub end of the Skyway (that was later extended to feed into the Dan Ryan Expressway as I-90) and on to at least the MSTP metro area via the US 12 corridor?

Mike

You mean the Hypotenuse?

[Revive 755]

The IL-53 Extension is in a deep freeze at the moment. Not dead, but not going anywhere. IDOT has not sold the land and is still retaining its ROW.

Until the effort to convert it to parkland gets enough of a boost from the legislature.

The IL 120 corridor seems to have a PEL study underway:  https://il120study.com/.

[US20IL64]

"... why in the world did I-90 have to serve Rockford?"

Rockford used to be a big manufacturing hub, and the 2nd largest city in IL. Same reason I-94 goes to Milwaukee and then Madison.