Amstutz expressway proposal still alive?

[Stephane Dumas]

I spotted that detail on OpenStreetmap in the areas of Lake Bluff and North Chicago
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=42.322222&mlon=-87.854444&zoom=12&layers=M

There some dashed lines showing the Amstutz Expressway being proposed down almost to Skokie Hwy(US-41), wasn't this project once cancelled by Nimbys?

And OpenStreetmap also show the proposed upgrades of IL-120 to full freeway as part of IL-53 extension by showing some of the proposed exits and entrances ramps.

[Brandon]

As far as I know, all Amstutz Expressway proposals are either dead or dormant.

Belvidere Road (IL-120) does have a few interchanges near the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) at Milwaukee Avenue (IL-21), the entrance to the former Lakehurst Mall, Waukegan Road (IL-43), and Skokie Highway (US-41).  The IL-53 extension is supposed to tie into the already existing short expressway.

[StogieGuy7]

No, the Amstutz will not be expanded any further.  Not ever.  Areas to the north include a mix of wealthy neighborhoods (by Waukegan standards) and natural areas - including Illinois Beach State Park.  To the south is a congested mix of old industrial properties, low-income housing, and whatever will remain of Abbott Laboratories once much of the manufacturing is shuttered in 2014. 

There are proposals going through Lake County DOT and the cities of Waukegan and N. Chicago to constuct a bike path along the lake from Waukegan Harbor to Great Lakes Naval Base.  And that's as close as anything is going to get to being constructed at either end of the Amstutz.  Waukegan, for one, is hoping to entice developers to build condos on the lakefront to the south of their harbor.   I know all the players in this particular area and can assure you that nothing is proposed (or even imagined) for the Amstutz.  Not even the sorely needed interchange with Belvidere St. (which becomes IL-120). 

As for the IL-53 extension, that IS sorely needed and almost all of the Lake County pols seem to support it.  But in a 'parkway' form where it will be a half-baked, 2-lane, expensive toll road with an absurd speed limit of 45.  It would tie in to IL-120, which - as part of the project - is to be rerouted onto a multi-lane bypass (to the south) of Grayslake.  We'll see how that goes.

[Revive 755]

The north end is definitely dead, as IDOT has plans to remove the bridge and install an at-grade T intersection some year in the future.

I haven't seen any proposals that look like the southern extension shown on OpenStreetMap; EDIT:  There was apparently consideration of having the Amstutz tie into the Lake County east-west freeway near IL 60. end edit  In later plans the Amstutz was going to basically run west either parallel IL 137 on the north side or 24th Street IIRC.  The East-West section died in the EIS stage, the north-south central section between MLK Drive and Genesee Street seems to have died in the early 1990's. 

There was a proposal to extend the Amstutz northwesterly from the northern terminus to pass by the Waukegan Airport and end at I-94 near Wadsworth Road, I believe in the late 1990's, that didn't go anywhere.  Prior to this proposal but after the full freeway version to Kenosha seems to have fallen through, the Amstutz would have transitioned to a two lane roadway with at-grade intersections north of the current northern terminus.  I believe it was to end at the access road to Illinois Beach State Park.

I recall reading articles in which there were proposals for either downsizing the Amstutz to a Super 2 or removing it altogether and rerouting at least some of the railroad tracks in the area along the ROW.


OpenStreetMap also shows the Elgin-O'Hare being extended westward to connect with the Elgin Bypass.  Although this project is in the Chicago MPO's long range plan, Hanover Park was seeking a parkway type design with multiple stoplights for the section just west of the current west end.


Open Street Map also shows the West Bypass, but it's missing the EOE extension between IL 53 and the West Bypass.