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Author Topic: Illinois Tollway Notes  (Read 319632 times)

I-39

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Illinois Tollway Notes
« on: March 21, 2016, 10:08:41 PM »

I'm creating this thread so we can discuss Illinois Tollway topics that do not need their own posts.

So I'll get started. Does anyone know why the twin U.S 20 bridges in Belvidere on I-90 are not being reconstructed? It kept appearing on the construction contract list from time to time, then disappeared randomly.
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peterj920

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2016, 06:24:07 AM »

It seems like the Illinois Tollway reconstruction plans omit the majority of bridges that cross over the tollways.  On the Tri-State Tollway, many of the bridges weren't reconstructed.  Signs warn that the road narrows at the overpass.  It's probably a cost savings move and they figure that widening the tollways is the biggest priority, and that traffic can deal without a shoulder for a short time under a bridge.
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quickshade

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2016, 03:57:23 PM »

It seems like the Illinois Tollway reconstruction plans omit the majority of bridges that cross over the tollways.  On the Tri-State Tollway, many of the bridges weren't reconstructed.  Signs warn that the road narrows at the overpass.  It's probably a cost savings move and they figure that widening the tollways is the biggest priority, and that traffic can deal without a shoulder for a short time under a bridge.

This was not the case with I90, almost all bridges had to be rebuilt to handle the extra lanes and wider shoulder (for future use). Most of the cross roads have been rebuilt with the current widening, while some are being done post widening due to scheduling and making sure proper detours can be provided. Some, if not almost all the bridges were done were in need of replacement anyways (original to the highway in the 50's) so I think this is just a staggering effect to make sure the higher traveled bridges and I90 work gets done on time, and they don't get behind on the bridges that were required to be rebuilt in order to get the extra lane in.

As for what was mentioned above, U.S 20 is receiving some funds for maintenance work on the bridges themselves, I'm wondering if they plan on doing a rebuild on the interchange at some point and would rather wait for that before replacing the bridge structure.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2016, 03:59:57 PM by quickshade »
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I-39

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2016, 04:38:04 PM »

It seems like the Illinois Tollway reconstruction plans omit the majority of bridges that cross over the tollways.  On the Tri-State Tollway, many of the bridges weren't reconstructed.  Signs warn that the road narrows at the overpass.  It's probably a cost savings move and they figure that widening the tollways is the biggest priority, and that traffic can deal without a shoulder for a short time under a bridge.

That is because they cut corners big time on the Tri-State rebuild. Frankly, I don't know how they got away with that. Plus, most of the bridges are from the original 1950's construction and will have to be replaced eventually. It appears they learned their lesson and all of the I-90 crossroad bridges between Rockford and I-294 (except the Railroad bridge west of Belvidere, the Randall Road bridge and possibly the twin U.S 20 crossroad bridges west of Belvidere) have been or are being rebuilt.

This was not the case with I90, almost all bridges had to be rebuilt to handle the extra lanes and wider shoulder (for future use). Most of the cross roads have been rebuilt with the current widening, while some are being done post widening due to scheduling and making sure proper detours can be provided. Some, if not almost all the bridges were done were in need of replacement anyways (original to the highway in the 50's) so I think this is just a staggering effect to make sure the higher traveled bridges and I90 work gets done on time, and they don't get behind on the bridges that were required to be rebuilt in order to get the extra lane in.

As for what was mentioned above, U.S 20 is receiving some funds for maintenance work on the bridges themselves, I'm wondering if they plan on doing a rebuild on the interchange at some point and would rather wait for that before replacing the bridge structure.

The ramp bridge at the U.S 20 interchange in Marengo was redone a decade ago, if that is what you are talking about. I am talking about the twin U.S 20 crossroad bridges west of Belvidere. For whatever reason, they were on the schedule (in the future construction bid schedule) for two brief periods of time the last two years, but were removed a while after. I was wondering if anyone knew why. I doubt they are planning to put an interchange their, since they just spent money on completing the Irene Road interchange nearby.

Good news is, it looks like the IL-23 interchange may be moving forward. In 2017, they have a contract to reconstruct the IL-23 bridge and roadway, which means they may be expanding the road in order to accommodate ramps.
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lucas01aswell

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2016, 08:46:34 PM »

anymore rember deerfeld toll plaza it wa s traffic hog
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ChiMilNet

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2016, 10:20:38 PM »

anymore rember deerfeld toll plaza it wa s traffic hog

Yeah, that one was bad news. The open road tolling has made quite a difference at many of them. One that I think the tollway should consider moving is the River Road Toll Plaza on I-90 East. That area is such a bottleneck, and anything the tollway can do to lessen the traffic there would make a world of difference. I know it could cause some complications with having to add plazas on ramps to I-90 East from I-294, but I have to believe there is something they could do about that. I don't know if this is getting into fictional territory...
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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2016, 10:15:48 PM »

anymore rember deerfeld toll plaza it wa s traffic hog

Yeah, that one was bad news. The open road tolling has made quite a difference at many of them. One that I think the tollway should consider moving is the River Road Toll Plaza on I-90 East. That area is such a bottleneck, and anything the tollway can do to lessen the traffic there would make a world of difference. I know it could cause some complications with having to add plazas on ramps to I-90 East from I-294, but I have to believe there is something they could do about that. I don't know if this is getting into fictional territory...

That might be impossible, if you move one toll, it will affect another. I don't know if this is going to be any help to I-90 east, but IDOT is planning to do a project named the Cumberland Flyover, http://www.idot.illinois.gov/projects/Cumberland-Flyover-Project
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ET21

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2016, 11:05:22 PM »

Now that is badly needed. Cumberland needs something newer than the current ramp system and the Kennedy can't handle the bad merging situation there.

A what-if scenario: what if there wasn't an exit there? would we still have the bad merging problems?
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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2016, 11:43:36 PM »

Yes?
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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2016, 12:22:30 AM »

Now that is badly needed. Cumberland needs something newer than the current ramp system and the Kennedy can't handle the bad merging situation there.

A what-if scenario: what if there wasn't an exit there? would we still have the bad merging problems?

Needs to be wider down stream in to the city. The flyover can help a bit.

any one have the plans for the I-190 widening? Going in to the airport?
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Revive 755

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2016, 05:54:26 PM »

Yeah, that one was bad news. The open road tolling has made quite a difference at many of them. One that I think the tollway should consider moving is the River Road Toll Plaza on I-90 East. That area is such a bottleneck, and anything the tollway can do to lessen the traffic there would make a world of difference. I know it could cause some complications with having to add plazas on ramps to I-90 East from I-294, but I have to believe there is something they could do about that. I don't know if this is getting into fictional territory...

If the plaza for eastbound I-90 was moved west - say to be part of the Devon Toll Plaza - traffic exiting eastbound I-90 to I-294 would be hit up again for tolls right away on I-294.

I do recall seeing a newspaper article from years ago where ISTHA apparently considered adding a new mainline toll plaza for I-90 somewhere around Schaumburg.


Now if there is a toll plaza or two that should be removed from I-90, it should be the ones at the I-290/IL 53 interchange.  It seems like a great missed opportunity with the I-90 rebuild, since the currently untolled ramps at Barrington and Roselle Roads will be tolled.  It would only require two additional plazas, one for the eastbound entrance from Beverly Road (which I hear a lot of people use instead of paying to enter from IL 25), and one for the entrances from IL 59.
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ChiMilNet

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2016, 11:27:53 PM »

Yeah, that one was bad news. The open road tolling has made quite a difference at many of them. One that I think the tollway should consider moving is the River Road Toll Plaza on I-90 East. That area is such a bottleneck, and anything the tollway can do to lessen the traffic there would make a world of difference. I know it could cause some complications with having to add plazas on ramps to I-90 East from I-294, but I have to believe there is something they could do about that. I don't know if this is getting into fictional territory...

If the plaza for eastbound I-90 was moved west - say to be part of the Devon Toll Plaza - traffic exiting eastbound I-90 to I-294 would be hit up again for tolls right away on I-294.

I do recall seeing a newspaper article from years ago where ISTHA apparently considered adding a new mainline toll plaza for I-90 somewhere around Schaumburg.


Now if there is a toll plaza or two that should be removed from I-90, it should be the ones at the I-290/IL 53 interchange.  It seems like a great missed opportunity with the I-90 rebuild, since the currently untolled ramps at Barrington and Roselle Roads will be tolled.  It would only require two additional plazas, one for the eastbound entrance from Beverly Road (which I hear a lot of people use instead of paying to enter from IL 25), and one for the entrances from IL 59.

My only thought on that is that they might wait and see if IDOT will ever work with them to upgrade the interchange. If so, that could be a time they decide to remove the tolls there.

Sort of on the same topic, is the Meachem Road interchange being designed so that ramps could be added for Eastbound I-90 movements in the future? At the very least, I feel there should at least be an exit ramp for I-90 in this spot, as it could alleviate the mess on I-290 right in that spot near Woodfield (why IDOT didn't have a through auxiliary lane right there is beyond me).
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Joe The Dragon

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2016, 12:06:22 AM »

Yeah, that one was bad news. The open road tolling has made quite a difference at many of them. One that I think the tollway should consider moving is the River Road Toll Plaza on I-90 East. That area is such a bottleneck, and anything the tollway can do to lessen the traffic there would make a world of difference. I know it could cause some complications with having to add plazas on ramps to I-90 East from I-294, but I have to believe there is something they could do about that. I don't know if this is getting into fictional territory...

If the plaza for eastbound I-90 was moved west - say to be part of the Devon Toll Plaza - traffic exiting eastbound I-90 to I-294 would be hit up again for tolls right away on I-294.

I do recall seeing a newspaper article from years ago where ISTHA apparently considered adding a new mainline toll plaza for I-90 somewhere around Schaumburg.


Now if there is a toll plaza or two that should be removed from I-90, it should be the ones at the I-290/IL 53 interchange.  It seems like a great missed opportunity with the I-90 rebuild, since the currently untolled ramps at Barrington and Roselle Roads will be tolled.  It would only require two additional plazas, one for the eastbound entrance from Beverly Road (which I hear a lot of people use instead of paying to enter from IL 25), and one for the entrances from IL 59.
maybe they can get rid of the toll to exit to I-290 if they add new tolls to ramps. Or at least some kind of  virtual ticket to have a big ETC discount for taking an exit after getting on at Barrington and Roselle Roads + IL-59
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Revive 755

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2016, 09:19:04 PM »

Sort of on the same topic, is the Meachem Road interchange being designed so that ramps could be added for Eastbound I-90 movements in the future? At the very least, I feel there should at least be an exit ramp for I-90 in this spot, as it could alleviate the mess on I-290 right in that spot near Woodfield (why IDOT didn't have a through auxiliary lane right there is beyond me).

Unfortunately not.  The gore for the ramps to I-290 and IL 53 from eastbound I-90 will be near the Meacham overpass, and the C-D roadway will be too close to the mainline to easily squeeze in future ramps.  Plus the C-D roadway will be under the same overpass as the main lanes, unlike the setup for westbound where the C-D roadway for the I-290/IL 53 ramps uses a shorter, separate structure set back enough from the main lanes to fit the ramps in.  But I suppose if they wanted to get fancy with braiding an eastbound entrance from Meacham and somehow add access to Meacham via Wiley Road (the south outer road for that stretch of I-90) they might be able to pull it off.

In short, I-90 at Meacham probably should have been designed similarly to I-55 at I-270/I-255 and US 50/US 61/US 67 south of St. Louis.  Aerial view of that one from Google

The thinking I've heard is that the new eastbound exit to Roselle, plus the new eastbound exit to Barrington will take some pressure off the EB I-90 to EB I-290 ramp.  I do wonder though about the Tollway not planning for any additional traffic the new ramps may add to mainline.  There's also the possibility that the extra traffic may require more work on Roselle Road, such as filling the gap in the six lane section between IL 62 and Central Road.  Depending how the Motorola campus redevelopes, there could be a push in the future to look at getting another eastbound exit near Meacham.
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Joe The Dragon

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2016, 09:40:59 PM »

Sort of on the same topic, is the Meachem Road interchange being designed so that ramps could be added for Eastbound I-90 movements in the future? At the very least, I feel there should at least be an exit ramp for I-90 in this spot, as it could alleviate the mess on I-290 right in that spot near Woodfield (why IDOT didn't have a through auxiliary lane right there is beyond me).

Unfortunately not.  The gore for the ramps to I-290 and IL 53 from eastbound I-90 will be near the Meacham overpass, and the C-D roadway will be too close to the mainline to easily squeeze in future ramps.  Plus the C-D roadway will be under the same overpass as the main lanes, unlike the setup for westbound where the C-D roadway for the I-290/IL 53 ramps uses a shorter, separate structure set back enough from the main lanes to fit the ramps in.  But I suppose if they wanted to get fancy with braiding an eastbound entrance from Meacham and somehow add access to Meacham via Wiley Road (the south outer road for that stretch of I-90) they might be able to pull it off.

In short, I-90 at Meacham probably should have been designed similarly to I-55 at I-270/I-255 and US 50/US 61/US 67 south of St. Louis.  Aerial view of that one from Google

The thinking I've heard is that the new eastbound exit to Roselle, plus the new eastbound exit to Barrington will take some pressure off the EB I-90 to EB I-290 ramp.  I do wonder though about the Tollway not planning for any additional traffic the new ramps may add to mainline.  There's also the possibility that the extra traffic may require more work on Roselle Road, such as filling the gap in the six lane section between IL 62 and Central Road.  Depending how the Motorola campus redevelopes, there could be a push in the future to look at getting another eastbound exit near Meacham.

6 lane part being extended a bit but the cemetery is in the way or they can cut into the forest preserve a bit.
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ChiMilNet

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #15 on: March 30, 2016, 11:10:36 PM »

Sort of on the same topic, is the Meachem Road interchange being designed so that ramps could be added for Eastbound I-90 movements in the future? At the very least, I feel there should at least be an exit ramp for I-90 in this spot, as it could alleviate the mess on I-290 right in that spot near Woodfield (why IDOT didn't have a through auxiliary lane right there is beyond me).

Unfortunately not.  The gore for the ramps to I-290 and IL 53 from eastbound I-90 will be near the Meacham overpass, and the C-D roadway will be too close to the mainline to easily squeeze in future ramps.  Plus the C-D roadway will be under the same overpass as the main lanes, unlike the setup for westbound where the C-D roadway for the I-290/IL 53 ramps uses a shorter, separate structure set back enough from the main lanes to fit the ramps in.  But I suppose if they wanted to get fancy with braiding an eastbound entrance from Meacham and somehow add access to Meacham via Wiley Road (the south outer road for that stretch of I-90) they might be able to pull it off.

In short, I-90 at Meacham probably should have been designed similarly to I-55 at I-270/I-255 and US 50/US 61/US 67 south of St. Louis.  Aerial view of that one from Google

The thinking I've heard is that the new eastbound exit to Roselle, plus the new eastbound exit to Barrington will take some pressure off the EB I-90 to EB I-290 ramp.  I do wonder though about the Tollway not planning for any additional traffic the new ramps may add to mainline.  There's also the possibility that the extra traffic may require more work on Roselle Road, such as filling the gap in the six lane section between IL 62 and Central Road.  Depending how the Motorola campus redevelopes, there could be a push in the future to look at getting another eastbound exit near Meacham.

6 lane part being extended a bit but the cemetery is in the way or they can cut into the forest preserve a bit.

I can imagine that those ramps will help either way, and they are sorely needed. If nothing else, people who live in Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg won't have to go all the way to I-290 if they're coming from the West for any reason or vice versa with going to the I-290 Interchange from where they live. I get the feeling a few of the roads around there might get a bit more burdened, and I can even see Meacham needing a widening North of Algonquin Road. Surprising they didn't think to try to accommodate a future expansion of the interchange at Meacham, but I guess at least they're getting one there at all.
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ILRoad55

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2016, 11:11:27 PM »

Just adding on to the I-90 construction, since it is expected to end sometime in 2016, will they start working on the Elgin O'Hare interchange where the old oasis was or will they wait till they reach that area, which I think will start in 2017-18?

Also did anyone know that the Illinois Tollway site has live cameras of the Elgin Ohare and the Northwest Tollway.
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dzlsabe

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #17 on: March 30, 2016, 11:46:38 PM »

Sort of on the same topic, is the Meachem Road interchange being designed so that ramps could be added for Eastbound I-90 movements in the future? At the very least, I feel there should at least be an exit ramp for I-90 in this spot, as it could alleviate the mess on I-290 right in that spot near Woodfield (why IDOT didn't have a through auxiliary lane right there is beyond me).

Unfortunately not.  The gore for the ramps to I-290 and IL 53 from eastbound I-90 will be near the Meacham overpass, and the C-D roadway will be too close to the mainline to easily squeeze in future ramps.  Plus the C-D roadway will be under the same overpass as the main lanes, unlike the setup for westbound where the C-D roadway for the I-290/IL 53 ramps uses a shorter, separate structure set back enough from the main lanes to fit the ramps in.  But I suppose if they wanted to get fancy with braiding an eastbound entrance from Meacham and somehow add access to Meacham via Wiley Road (the south outer road for that stretch of I-90) they might be able to pull it off.

In short, I-90 at Meacham probably should have been designed similarly to I-55 at I-270/I-255 and US 50/US 61/US 67 south of St. Louis.  Aerial view of that one from Google

The thinking I've heard is that the new eastbound exit to Roselle, plus the new eastbound exit to Barrington will take some pressure off the EB I-90 to EB I-290 ramp.  I do wonder though about the Tollway not planning for any additional traffic the new ramps may add to mainline.  There's also the possibility that the extra traffic may require more work on Roselle Road, such as filling the gap in the six lane section between IL 62 and Central Road.  Depending how the Motorola campus redevelopes, there could be a push in the future to look at getting another eastbound exit near Meacham.

6 lane part being extended a bit but the cemetery is in the way or they can cut into the forest preserve a bit.

This is horrible. SIX lanes? The cemetery?
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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #18 on: March 31, 2016, 10:32:37 PM »

I can imagine that those ramps will help either way, and they are sorely needed. If nothing else, people who live in Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg won't have to go all the way to I-290 if they're coming from the West for any reason or vice versa with going to the I-290 Interchange from where they live. I get the feeling a few of the roads around there might get a bit more burdened, and I can even see Meacham needing a widening North of Algonquin Road.

Meacham already needs widening between Algonquin Road and Kirchoff Road to at least get in a center turn lane.

Just adding on to the I-90 construction, since it is expected to end sometime in 2016, will they start working on the Elgin O'Hare interchange where the old oasis was or will they wait till they reach that area, which I think will start in 2017-18?

Last I heard they were going to wait until the West Bypass gets towards I-90, and that section was to be the last part done (around 2023-2025 time frame).  After building IL 390 between IL 83 and York Road, the next priority was to get a connection between IL 390 and I-294 IIRC.
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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #19 on: March 31, 2016, 11:26:46 PM »


Just adding on to the I-90 construction, since it is expected to end sometime in 2016, will they start working on the Elgin O'Hare interchange where the old oasis was or will they wait till they reach that area, which I think will start in 2017-18?

Last I heard they were going to wait until the West Bypass gets towards I-90, and that section was to be the last part done (around 2023-2025 time frame).  After building IL 390 between IL 83 and York Road, the next priority was to get a connection between IL 390 and I-294 IIRC.

Well, I think it would be a good idea to at least start that interchange, maybe leave ramp stubs for now until the bypass reaches up there.

Also I found some concept designs for what they want to do for the bypass. (This should probably go into the Elgin Ohare thread)
South of the Elgin O'hare to I-294: http://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/10157/8320517/4_EOWA_ConceptPlan_WesternAccess_I-294
It looks like the want to add an exit on County Line, north of North Ave and reconfigure that entire intersection which seems a bit confusing.
There will be a connector between Irving Park and Franklin, but there's a toll to use it, (that's stupid because there's a toll you go through to get off at Franklin)

North of the Elgin O'hare to I-90: http://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/10157/8320517/5_EOWA_ConceptPlan_TouhyAveCorridor
Looks like they will put Old Higgins Road to use to ease congestion on Higgins and Elmhurst. There will be a C&D ramp for Elmhurst and the Bypass interchange so maybe they will do work on the interchange.
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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2016, 11:49:08 PM »

That flyover the Tri-state from I-88 and N294, eliminating the oval, needs a serious study.
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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #21 on: April 01, 2016, 10:57:45 PM »

That flyover the Tri-state from I-88 and N294, eliminating the oval, needs a serious study.

Also, I will include that narrow loop from NB I-294 to WB/NB I-290. I'm hoping that gets addressed with the Central I-294 rebuild (who knows since IDOT would also have to be involved though).
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I-39

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #22 on: April 02, 2016, 10:19:18 AM »

Removing the River Road Toll Plaza and combining it with the Devon Avenue Toll Plaza was a serious missed opportunity by ISTHA. They could have constructed an eastbound portion of the Devon Avenue Toll Plaza by removing some of the cash lanes on the WB side, thus leaving enough ROW for an eastbound plaza. Then, the River Road plaza could have been eliminated entirely, and ISTHA and IDOT could have rebuilt/widened I-90 between I-294 and the Edens to eight lanes (minimum). Combine that with the Cumberland flyover and that solves most of the traffic problems in this area.

BTW, what is the status on the Cumberland flyover? Is it being constructed this year? It appears from the project page on IDOTs website that only the East River Road Bridge will be reconstructed this year.
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ILRoad55

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #23 on: April 02, 2016, 02:22:37 PM »

Removing the River Road Toll Plaza and combining it with the Devon Avenue Toll Plaza was a serious missed opportunity by ISTHA. They could have constructed an eastbound portion of the Devon Avenue Toll Plaza by removing some of the cash lanes on the WB side, thus leaving enough ROW for an eastbound plaza. Then, the River Road plaza could have been eliminated entirely, and ISTHA and IDOT could have rebuilt/widened I-90 between I-294 and the Edens to eight lanes (minimum). Combine that with the Cumberland flyover and that solves most of the traffic problems in this area.

BTW, what is the status on the Cumberland flyover? Is it being constructed this year? It appears from the project page on IDOTs website that only the East River Road Bridge will be reconstructed this year.

But then you have problems. If the Devon toll plaza was an east-west plaza, then getting onto I-294 means you have to go through the Touhy or the Irving Park toll plazas. That interchange is just a huge mess and I think needs major work even though there are some parts that are fine.


What the Tri-State tollway needs though are more interchanges. Here's a list I came up with:
  • Lake Ave or Milwaukee Ave: It's hard to find a quick way to Abt when you are going north on 294, you have to go to Willow Road and then make your way back south or take Dempster and there is always traffic. But Abt isn't the only reason I want an exit/entrance there. Residents, businesses, more access to the tollway.
  • Dempster St: It's an incomplete interchange, maybe on the east side of the tollway, have a partial diamond interchange to allow drivers from Dempster to enter the tollway to go NB. Add a SB exit ramp that goes onto Rand.
  • Touhy Ave: Same thing as Dempster. I don't know why they didn't do that for these incomplete interchanges.
  • St. Charles Rd: There is room between 290 and 294 if they decide to remove 290's clover ramps and combine the interchange so SB 294 can exit there along with NB(OB) 290 curving around and joining SB 294's exit ramp and St. Charles drivers enter to get onto SB 294 and curve around and onto NB (OB) 290. It would involve a traffic signal.
  • Roosevelt Rd: Fix the interchange, those ramps have some sharp turns.
  • Cermak Rd: I feel like there's room to add an entrance onto SB 294.
  • 88th Ave: There seems to be some room to add a NB exit ramp onto 88th ave, maybe even room to add an entrance onto NB 294.
  • 115th St: NB Exit? Possibly a SB entrance too via Ridgeland Ave between the Channel and the trailer park?

These are possibly awful ideas, I am not to good at calculating if the can fit or not.
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Joe The Dragon

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Re: Illinois Tollway Notes
« Reply #24 on: April 02, 2016, 03:36:41 PM »

Removing the River Road Toll Plaza and combining it with the Devon Avenue Toll Plaza was a serious missed opportunity by ISTHA. They could have constructed an eastbound portion of the Devon Avenue Toll Plaza by removing some of the cash lanes on the WB side, thus leaving enough ROW for an eastbound plaza. Then, the River Road plaza could have been eliminated entirely, and ISTHA and IDOT could have rebuilt/widened I-90 between I-294 and the Edens to eight lanes (minimum). Combine that with the Cumberland flyover and that solves most of the traffic problems in this area.

BTW, what is the status on the Cumberland flyover? Is it being constructed this year? It appears from the project page on IDOTs website that only the East River Road Bridge will be reconstructed this year.

But then you have problems. If the Devon toll plaza was an east-west plaza, then getting onto I-294 means you have to go through the Touhy or the Irving Park toll plazas. That interchange is just a huge mess and I think needs major work even though there are some parts that are fine.


What the Tri-State tollway needs though are more interchanges. Here's a list I came up with:
  • Lake Ave or Milwaukee Ave: It's hard to find a quick way to Abt when you are going north on 294, you have to go to Willow Road and then make your way back south or take Dempster and there is always traffic. But Abt isn't the only reason I want an exit/entrance there. Residents, businesses, more access to the tollway.
  • Dempster St: It's an incomplete interchange, maybe on the east side of the tollway, have a partial diamond interchange to allow drivers from Dempster to enter the tollway to go NB. Add a SB exit ramp that goes onto Rand.
  • Touhy Ave: Same thing as Dempster. I don't know why they didn't do that for these incomplete interchanges.
  • St. Charles Rd: There is room between 290 and 294 if they decide to remove 290's clover ramps and combine the interchange so SB 294 can exit there along with NB(OB) 290 curving around and joining SB 294's exit ramp and St. Charles drivers enter to get onto SB 294 and curve around and onto NB (OB) 290. It would involve a traffic signal.
  • Roosevelt Rd: Fix the interchange, those ramps have some sharp turns.
  • Cermak Rd: I feel like there's room to add an entrance onto SB 294.
  • 88th Ave: There seems to be some room to add a NB exit ramp onto 88th ave, maybe even room to add an entrance onto NB 294.
  • 115th St: NB Exit? Possibly a SB entrance too via Ridgeland Ave between the Channel and the trailer park?

These are possibly awful ideas, I am not to good at calculating if the can fit or not.

I covered some
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10015.msg2104950#msg2104950
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