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[SSOWorld]

Then the statement's accurate on I-355 - ironically, that's through an exclave of the county that jutts out in between Will and DuPage Counties

[abefroman329]

Per this website, it is supposed to be 60 east of Des Plaines and 70 west of it.

ftp://www.ilga.gov/JCAR/AdminCode/092/092025200D04100R.html

You'll see those updated sometime next century.  Because Chicago.  ISTHA won't move on that.

Add to the fact that the differing speed limits exist for other various configurations (trailers, buses, trucks) in that area - that gives ISTHA incentive to say "fuck it, everyone shall go 55".  Doesn't matter in the long run anyway - nobody is obeying speed limits so what's the real sign?



Not bad for a quick whip-up. 

What does Chicago have to do with it? Jane Adams isn't ever in Chicago

The area (the 6 counties surrounding Chicago - Lake, Will, DuPage, Kane, and Cook) are influenced politically by the city's corruption - and it shows.  Ask Brandon.

Cook County (which Chicago is in) only has one small stretch of freeway with a speed greater than 60 mph. - I-57 south of I-80 - and that is 65.

You're trying to hard coming up with conspiracy theories. I'd argue that given the population density and therefore the traffic that comes along with it, going faster than 60 mph on the vast majority of cook county highways isn't even feasible for long periods of time.

I simply cannot fathom that the 85th percentile of traffic is moving faster than 60 mph on the ike, dan ryan, edens, or the kennedy throughout the day (even though the speed limit is 55 mph)

Nope, not until after 8pm. Mon through Sat. Sunday AM and holidays are the only days you can go 60+ on those freeways

I think the Edens is a bit of an outlier.  When I reverse-commute from Rogers Park to Riverwoods, I can go 60+ on the Edens on the way to work, provided I leave the house by 7 am.  Coming home, usually not unless I leave before 4.  And provided you're traveling north of, say, Petersen, you can go 60+ quite easily in the middle of the day.

[ET21]

I-88 is getting another resurfacing from Rochelle to Sugar Grove, only 5-6 years after the last one
https://www.cityofdekalb.com/DocumentCenter/View/7374

[mrsman]

I think the Edens is a bit of an outlier.  When I reverse-commute from Rogers Park to Riverwoods, I can go 60+ on the Edens on the way to work, provided I leave the house by 7 am.  Coming home, usually not unless I leave before 4.  And provided you're traveling north of, say, Petersen, you can go 60+ quite easily in the middle of the day.

The Edens is unique as it is a spur off the Kennedy.  The Kennedy inbound from the Edens Jct is overloaded because it simply does not have enough lanes to cover the traffic from both the Kennedy (beyond the Jct) and the Edens.  When the express lanes are traveling in your direction, the number of lanes match, but traffic is of course busier as you get closer to the loop and when the express lanes are closed/opposite direction you don't have enough lanes.

The outbound Kennedy from the loop is mostly 4 lanes during the morning peak.  It widens to 6 lanes before the split.  3 lanes to the Edens and 3 lanes to the Kennedy.  But assuming that the traffic from the loop splits evenly, and that is a reasonably good assumption, you have 2 lanes of moving traffic (1/2 of the 4 lanes) with 3 lanes of highway to use.  So unless the road is overloaded or there is some accident blocking lanes you have a lot of spare capacity and traffic moves well for you.  Moreover, a lot of the thru traffic heading from Indiana to Milwaukee is taking the Tri-State instead, especially if they want to bypass the brutal morning commute on the northbound Dan Ryan so the problems on the Dan Ryan translate into a free-flowing Edens.

But in the afternoon, this is not the case.  The Edens merging into the Kennedy and not enough lanes to handle the traffic means congestion, even in the direction  opposite primary traffic.  Plus, there is more afternoon commuting into the city than morning commuting into the suburbs as people plan evenings out in town to go to a movie, a restaurant, a sports game, etc.

[ChiMilNet]

I think the Edens is a bit of an outlier.  When I reverse-commute from Rogers Park to Riverwoods, I can go 60+ on the Edens on the way to work, provided I leave the house by 7 am.  Coming home, usually not unless I leave before 4.  And provided you're traveling north of, say, Petersen, you can go 60+ quite easily in the middle of the day.

The Edens is unique as it is a spur off the Kennedy.  The Kennedy inbound from the Edens Jct is overloaded because it simply does not have enough lanes to cover the traffic from both the Kennedy (beyond the Jct) and the Edens.  When the express lanes are traveling in your direction, the number of lanes match, but traffic is of course busier as you get closer to the loop and when the express lanes are closed/opposite direction you don't have enough lanes.

The outbound Kennedy from the loop is mostly 4 lanes during the morning peak.  It widens to 6 lanes before the split.  3 lanes to the Edens and 3 lanes to the Kennedy.  But assuming that the traffic from the loop splits evenly, and that is a reasonably good assumption, you have 2 lanes of moving traffic (1/2 of the 4 lanes) with 3 lanes of highway to use.  So unless the road is overloaded or there is some accident blocking lanes you have a lot of spare capacity and traffic moves well for you.  Moreover, a lot of the thru traffic heading from Indiana to Milwaukee is taking the Tri-State instead, especially if they want to bypass the brutal morning commute on the northbound Dan Ryan so the problems on the Dan Ryan translate into a free-flowing Edens.

But in the afternoon, this is not the case.  The Edens merging into the Kennedy and not enough lanes to handle the traffic means congestion, even in the direction  opposite primary traffic.  Plus, there is more afternoon commuting into the city than morning commuting into the suburbs as people plan evenings out in town to go to a movie, a restaurant, a sports game, etc.

The issue is that the reversible express system is simply obsolete, and has been for some time. If one were to look at the ROW on the Kennedy, they could easily convert it to 5 lanes comfortably in each direction (potentially 6 with little to no extra ROW needed, though possibly with a slightly narrower median). This would fix a lot of the inbound issues on the Edens (and Kennedy) at this spot. Outbound Kennedy prior to the junction would remain an issue both morning and night because of backups due to the idiotic short on-ramp merges on the Kennedy side after the split (looking at you area around the Nagle and Harlem Ave interchanges). As for the Edens, getting back on the topic of Illinois Tollway notes, I truly hope that the Tollway will do something about the EB I-94 Merge from the Spur onto the main Edens when they do their planned reconstruction of the spur... of course, this would require (gasp) IDOT to cooperate with them for once.

[ChiMilNet]

I-88 is getting another resurfacing from Rochelle to Sugar Grove, only 5-6 years after the last one
https://www.cityofdekalb.com/DocumentCenter/View/7374

I thought I remember somewhere that they are in the midst of a semi-longer term rubblization conversion/project on I-88 West of Aurora. I wonder if this is part of it, though the Tollway website hasn't had the projects list yet updated for this year. At least they are trying to keep their roadways in decent condition unlike IDOT.

[Joe The Dragon]

I think the Edens is a bit of an outlier.  When I reverse-commute from Rogers Park to Riverwoods, I can go 60+ on the Edens on the way to work, provided I leave the house by 7 am.  Coming home, usually not unless I leave before 4.  And provided you're traveling north of, say, Petersen, you can go 60+ quite easily in the middle of the day.

The Edens is unique as it is a spur off the Kennedy.  The Kennedy inbound from the Edens Jct is overloaded because it simply does not have enough lanes to cover the traffic from both the Kennedy (beyond the Jct) and the Edens.  When the express lanes are traveling in your direction, the number of lanes match, but traffic is of course busier as you get closer to the loop and when the express lanes are closed/opposite direction you don't have enough lanes.

The outbound Kennedy from the loop is mostly 4 lanes during the morning peak.  It widens to 6 lanes before the split.  3 lanes to the Edens and 3 lanes to the Kennedy.  But assuming that the traffic from the loop splits evenly, and that is a reasonably good assumption, you have 2 lanes of moving traffic (1/2 of the 4 lanes) with 3 lanes of highway to use.  So unless the road is overloaded or there is some accident blocking lanes you have a lot of spare capacity and traffic moves well for you.  Moreover, a lot of the thru traffic heading from Indiana to Milwaukee is taking the Tri-State instead, especially if they want to bypass the brutal morning commute on the northbound Dan Ryan so the problems on the Dan Ryan translate into a free-flowing Edens.

But in the afternoon, this is not the case.  The Edens merging into the Kennedy and not enough lanes to handle the traffic means congestion, even in the direction  opposite primary traffic.  Plus, there is more afternoon commuting into the city than morning commuting into the suburbs as people plan evenings out in town to go to a movie, a restaurant, a sports game, etc.

The issue is that the reversible express system is simply obsolete, and has been for some time. If one were to look at the ROW on the Kennedy, they could easily convert it to 5 lanes comfortably in each direction (potentially 6 with little to no extra ROW needed, though possibly with a slightly narrower median). This would fix a lot of the inbound issues on the Edens (and Kennedy) at this spot. Outbound Kennedy prior to the junction would remain an issue both morning and night because of backups due to the idiotic short on-ramp merges on the Kennedy side after the split (looking at you area around the Nagle and Harlem Ave interchanges). As for the Edens, getting back on the topic of Illinois Tollway notes, I truly hope that the Tollway will do something about the EB I-94 Merge from the Spur onto the main Edens when they do their planned reconstruction of the spur... of course, this would require (gasp) IDOT to cooperate with them for once.

They are widening till Harlem now the power house? for the CTA is in the way. After Harlem seems to be room for widening / or at the very least aux lanes. At milwaukee no room

[ChiMilNet]

I think the Edens is a bit of an outlier.  When I reverse-commute from Rogers Park to Riverwoods, I can go 60+ on the Edens on the way to work, provided I leave the house by 7 am.  Coming home, usually not unless I leave before 4.  And provided you're traveling north of, say, Petersen, you can go 60+ quite easily in the middle of the day.

The Edens is unique as it is a spur off the Kennedy.  The Kennedy inbound from the Edens Jct is overloaded because it simply does not have enough lanes to cover the traffic from both the Kennedy (beyond the Jct) and the Edens.  When the express lanes are traveling in your direction, the number of lanes match, but traffic is of course busier as you get closer to the loop and when the express lanes are closed/opposite direction you don't have enough lanes.

The outbound Kennedy from the loop is mostly 4 lanes during the morning peak.  It widens to 6 lanes before the split.  3 lanes to the Edens and 3 lanes to the Kennedy.  But assuming that the traffic from the loop splits evenly, and that is a reasonably good assumption, you have 2 lanes of moving traffic (1/2 of the 4 lanes) with 3 lanes of highway to use.  So unless the road is overloaded or there is some accident blocking lanes you have a lot of spare capacity and traffic moves well for you.  Moreover, a lot of the thru traffic heading from Indiana to Milwaukee is taking the Tri-State instead, especially if they want to bypass the brutal morning commute on the northbound Dan Ryan so the problems on the Dan Ryan translate into a free-flowing Edens.

But in the afternoon, this is not the case.  The Edens merging into the Kennedy and not enough lanes to handle the traffic means congestion, even in the direction  opposite primary traffic.  Plus, there is more afternoon commuting into the city than morning commuting into the suburbs as people plan evenings out in town to go to a movie, a restaurant, a sports game, etc.

The issue is that the reversible express system is simply obsolete, and has been for some time. If one were to look at the ROW on the Kennedy, they could easily convert it to 5 lanes comfortably in each direction (potentially 6 with little to no extra ROW needed, though possibly with a slightly narrower median). This would fix a lot of the inbound issues on the Edens (and Kennedy) at this spot. Outbound Kennedy prior to the junction would remain an issue both morning and night because of backups due to the idiotic short on-ramp merges on the Kennedy side after the split (looking at you area around the Nagle and Harlem Ave interchanges). As for the Edens, getting back on the topic of Illinois Tollway notes, I truly hope that the Tollway will do something about the EB I-94 Merge from the Spur onto the main Edens when they do their planned reconstruction of the spur... of course, this would require (gasp) IDOT to cooperate with them for once.

They are widening till Harlem now the power house? for the CTA is in the way. After Harlem seems to be room for widening / or at the very least aux lanes. At milwaukee no room

Even Auxiliary lanes where they can fit them on that portion of the Kennedy would greatly help. I am curious to see if this will fix the EB mess at the River Road Toll Plaza (jury is still very much out on that one). The WB portion really needs to be worked on next, For example, the entrance ramp WB between Nagle and Harlem has such a ridiculous short merge only to have an exit within feet of it again. That is one such example of a spot where they could slap in an auxiliary lane within a month (just some lighting relocation and such). The woes on the Kennedy are all the more highlighted now with the nice reconstruction done on the I-90 Tollway portion West of I-294. Again, IDOT looking pretty bad compared to the Tollway now.

[brad]

I-88 is getting another resurfacing from Rochelle to Sugar Grove, only 5-6 years after the last one
https://www.cityofdekalb.com/DocumentCenter/View/7374

I thought I remember somewhere that they are in the midst of a semi-longer term rubblization conversion/project on I-88 West of Aurora. I wonder if this is part of it, though the Tollway website hasn't had the projects list yet updated for this year. At least they are trying to keep their roadways in decent condition unlike IDOT.

Is this a joke? That road is fine. Does the Illinois Tollway really have nothing better to do with all the money they have? F Illinois.

[ChiMilNet]

I-88 is getting another resurfacing from Rochelle to Sugar Grove, only 5-6 years after the last one
https://www.cityofdekalb.com/DocumentCenter/View/7374

I thought I remember somewhere that they are in the midst of a semi-longer term rubblization conversion/project on I-88 West of Aurora. I wonder if this is part of it, though the Tollway website hasn't had the projects list yet updated for this year. At least they are trying to keep their roadways in decent condition unlike IDOT.

Is this a joke? That road is fine. Does the Illinois Tollway really have nothing better to do with all the money they have? F Illinois.

I could very well be mistaken on that, so don't hold me to it. I just thought I recalled something along those lines. If I am mistaken, someone please correct me.

[cwm1276]

Found the 88 resurfacing details
https://www.illinoistollway.com/projects/reagan/roadway-resurfacing-bridge-repairs
Sounds like what they did betweeh Rochelle and Rock Falls with drainage and crash investigation pull offs.

[johndoe780]

Found the 88 resurfacing details
https://www.illinoistollway.com/projects/reagan/roadway-resurfacing-bridge-repairs
Sounds like what they did betweeh Rochelle and Rock Falls with drainage and crash investigation pull offs.

lighting improvements huh?

Wouldn't be a bad idea from sugar grove to dekalb

[ChiMilNet]

Found the 88 resurfacing details
https://www.illinoistollway.com/projects/reagan/roadway-resurfacing-bridge-repairs
Sounds like what they did betweeh Rochelle and Rock Falls with drainage and crash investigation pull offs.

lighting improvements huh?

Wouldn't be a bad idea from sugar grove to dekalb

OK, how did you find the link to the project? They changed around the projects page a bit, but even then, all I could find were the links to the 2017 projects.

Also, I agree that I-88 could use some lighting improvements from Sugar Grove to DeKalb, though I doubt we'll see anything to the extent of what was done on I-90 in the foreseeable future for several reasons. Not to mention that a bigger priority for them would be to extend the continuous median lighting past the IL-59 interchange to at least Orchard Road.

[abefroman329]

As for the Edens, getting back on the topic of Illinois Tollway notes, I truly hope that the Tollway will do something about the EB I-94 Merge from the Spur onto the main Edens when they do their planned reconstruction of the spur... of course, this would require (gasp) IDOT to cooperate with them for once.

What is it that you'd like them to do?

[ChiMilNet]

As for the Edens, getting back on the topic of Illinois Tollway notes, I truly hope that the Tollway will do something about the EB I-94 Merge from the Spur onto the main Edens when they do their planned reconstruction of the spur... of course, this would require (gasp) IDOT to cooperate with them for once.

What is it that you'd like them to do?

As far as an example of IDOT's lack of willingness to cooperate and actually improve an interchange along with the Tollway, see the I-90/I-290 interchange in Schaumburg. Sadly, despite the nice job on the rebuild on I-90, that interchange still has major problems on the I-290/IL 53 IDOT portion.

Regarding the EB Edens Spur merge onto the Edens mainline, obviously that abrupt lane drop just as you enter the merge can cause backups for over a mile if you are driving through there anytime after 4pm M-F. Sadly, the lane drop is necessitated because of the very short merge on the actual Edens for this ramp. In order to eliminate this lane drop, IDOT would actually have to extend an auxiliary lane or two for a reasonable distance on the Edens. Sadly, though, in thinking about it, I fear that all this would do is move the backup further down much in the way that the updates to the Hillside Strangler did. I'm not too sure what is the perfect solution here, but in order for anything to be figured out, IDOT would need to actually coordinate with the Tollway and make improvements on their portion.

[cwm1276]

Found the 88 resurfacing details
https://www.illinoistollway.com/projects/reagan/roadway-resurfacing-bridge-repairs
Sounds like what they did betweeh Rochelle and Rock Falls with drainage and crash investigation pull offs.

lighting improvements huh?

Wouldn't be a bad idea from sugar grove to dekalb

OK, how did you find the link to the project? They changed around the projects page a bit, but even then, all I could find were the links to the 2017 projects.

Also, I agree that I-88 could use some lighting improvements from Sugar Grove to DeKalb, though I doubt we'll see anything to the extent of what was done on I-90 in the foreseeable future for several reasons. Not to mention that a bigger priority for them would be to extend the continuous median lighting past the IL-59 interchange to at least Orchard Road.

Use the map, the cones are links to new projects.

[ChiMilNet]

Found the 88 resurfacing details
https://www.illinoistollway.com/projects/reagan/roadway-resurfacing-bridge-repairs
Sounds like what they did betweeh Rochelle and Rock Falls with drainage and crash investigation pull offs.

lighting improvements huh?

Wouldn't be a bad idea from sugar grove to dekalb

OK, how did you find the link to the project? They changed around the projects page a bit, but even then, all I could find were the links to the 2017 projects.

Also, I agree that I-88 could use some lighting improvements from Sugar Grove to DeKalb, though I doubt we'll see anything to the extent of what was done on I-90 in the foreseeable future for several reasons. Not to mention that a bigger priority for them would be to extend the continuous median lighting past the IL-59 interchange to at least Orchard Road.

Use the map, the cones are links to new projects.

I appreciate the info.

It looks like some significant repairs are planned for I-355 I noticed, including some widening, resurfacing, ramp repairs, and lighting upgrades. That is good because this tollway is starting to show its age in some spots a bit.

Also, it looks like the repairs to the Edens Spur will begin this year. Hopefully, they'll provide more info on that page soon.

[tribar]

Looks like a speed limit increase is coming up on I-90 between Randall and at least Elmhurst, if not the Kennedy. There's a lot of covered up signs along the route right after entrances and a speed limit ahead sign EB around Elmhurst. Hopefully it's raised to 70 and not 60 or 65.

[dave069]

It is supposed to be 70 between Randall and Elmhurst, and 60 between Elmhurst and the Kennedy.

[tribar]

It is supposed to be 70 between Randall and Elmhurst, and 60 between Elmhurst and the Kennedy.

Have they announced when this goes into effect?

[Joe The Dragon]

It is supposed to be 70 between Randall and Elmhurst, and 60 between Elmhurst and the Kennedy.

next
ALL trucks / buses same as cars
I-490 needs to be 60
IL-390 60
I-294 central needs to be 60 and 65-70 after rebuild also work zone 45 very limited
I-94 (toll WI line to I-294) 70
I-294 other parts 65
I-88 I-294 to I-355 60-65 I-355 to end 70
I-355 (free zone) 60-65
I-355 tolled 65-70
I-290 I-355 to IL-390 60
I-290 I-355 to I-294 60
IL-53 / I-XXX  I-90 to lake cook 60-65
IL-53 / I-XXX lake cook to IL-120 toll / I-XXX 70
IL-120 toll / I-XXX us-12 to US-41 70

[Crash_It]

It is supposed to be 70 between Randall and Elmhurst, and 60 between Elmhurst and the Kennedy.

next
ALL trucks / buses same as cars
I-490 needs to be 60
IL-390 60
I-294 central needs to be 60 and 65-70 after rebuild also work zone 45 very limited
I-94 (toll WI line to I-294) 70
I-294 other parts 65
I-88 I-294 to I-355 60-65 I-355 to end 70
I-355 (free zone) 60-65
I-355 tolled 65-70
I-290 I-355 to IL-390 60
I-290 I-355 to I-294 60
IL-53 / I-XXX  I-90 to lake cook 60-65
IL-53 / I-XXX lake cook to IL-120 toll / I-XXX 70
IL-120 toll / I-XXX us-12 to US-41 70

As far as I know I 290 is already 60 from 355 to 390.
What also needs to happen

US41 from park ave to I94 - 60
I94 Eden's junction to Touhy - 65
I94 from Touhy to Kennedy Junction - 60
I94 (kingery) 65
I57 (outside Chicago city limits) 65
I55 (outside Chicago city limits) 65
US41 (North Lake Shore Drive) 45
US41 (South Lake Shore Drive) 50

The planned Grayslake bypass on IL120 is proposed to be a tollway? If so, this will be the third non interstate route to run on a tollway.

[SSOWorld]

https://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/20184/580106/2018_SpeedLimits_Cars%252CTrucks%252CBuses/6bca008a-586b-46ad-9f36-9105f2acc35e

The tollway authority has spoken, there is a(nother) 70 mph zone in Cook County!.

The 70 zone on I-90 has been pulled further in toward Chicago ending at just short of Arlington Heights Road interchange (MP 70) with a 60 mph limit all the way to the Kennedy. 

This confirms Dave069's post which I hotly but wrongly contested - https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=17650.msg2309528.  The weight-class speed limit needs to go next, along with any 55 zones on the tri-state, kingery and borman. (make them 65 if not 70 please!)

[ChiMilNet]

https://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/20184/580106/2018_SpeedLimits_Cars%252CTrucks%252CBuses/6bca008a-586b-46ad-9f36-9105f2acc35e

The tollway authority has spoken, there is a(nother) 70 mph zone in Cook County!.

The 70 zone on I-90 has been pulled further in toward Chicago ending at just short of Arlington Heights Road interchange (MP 70) with a 60 mph limit all the way to the Kennedy. 

This confirms Dave069's post which I hotly but wrongly contested - https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=17650.msg2309528.  The weight-class speed limit needs to go next, along with any 55 zones on the tri-state, kingery and borman. (make them 65 if not 70 please!)

Well, it'll actually match the speed of the traffic in that stretch now! Absolutely agreed on the 55 zones need to go, especially on the Central Tri-State. Also, can someone PLEASE tell IDOT to make the Northern End of I-355 60 at least? That's so stupid that it's 60, drops to 55 (speed trap), and then back to 60 all within 3 miles or so.

[Brandon]

https://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/20184/580106/2018_SpeedLimits_Cars%252CTrucks%252CBuses/6bca008a-586b-46ad-9f36-9105f2acc35e

The tollway authority has spoken, there is a(nother) 70 mph zone in Cook County!.

The 70 zone on I-90 has been pulled further in toward Chicago ending at just short of Arlington Heights Road interchange (MP 70) with a 60 mph limit all the way to the Kennedy. 

This confirms Dave069's post which I hotly but wrongly contested - https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=17650.msg2309528.  The weight-class speed limit needs to go next, along with any 55 zones on the tri-state, kingery and borman. (make them 65 if not 70 please!)

Well, it'll actually match the speed of the traffic in that stretch now! Absolutely agreed on the 55 zones need to go, especially on the Central Tri-State. Also, can someone PLEASE tell IDOT to make the Northern End of I-355 60 at least? That's so stupid that it's 60, drops to 55 (speed trap), and then back to 60 all within 3 miles or so.

The northern end of I-355 is weird in that regard.  The last northbound speed limit sign before I-290 is 60 mph.  However, there is a 55 mph sign southbound at Lake Street.