Illinois notes

[hobsini2]

Good thing they aren't extending it too far. I drove the whole thing almost in one go, from I-55 all the way to I-90. I don't want to ruin my almost-clinch!

I-55 to I-90 does not clinch the road Joe. Did you forget it goes to Antioch? Or am I misunderstanding you?

[paulthemapguy]

Good thing they aren't extending it too far. I drove the whole thing almost in one go, from I-55 all the way to I-90. I don't want to ruin my almost-clinch!

I-55 to I-90 does not clinch the road Joe. Did you forget it goes to Antioch? Or am I misunderstanding you?

He DID say "almost".

[ChiMilNet]

Good thing they aren't extending it too far. I drove the whole thing almost in one go, from I-55 all the way to I-90. I don't want to ruin my almost-clinch!

I-55 to I-90 does not clinch the road Joe. Did you forget it goes to Antioch? Or am I misunderstanding you?

He DID say "almost".

That's honestly a good third (maybe more) of the route left unclinched. That said, I often forget how far North it goes myself (and I've never been on it North of where it splits off US 12 in Fox Lake). It's definitely a more prominent route South of I-90, though, as most sections North of I-90, aside from the section right around the Arboretum and the multiplexed sections, are narrow two lane roadway.

[US20IL64]

In Du Page, we think of IL 83, 53 and 59 as major roads, but in Lake Co, they meander and duplex with other routes. 59 is a secondary route.

My Mom got lost driving on 83 from Grayslake, missed the turn from Mchenry Rd to Elmhurst Rd, thinking, "I'll take 83 all the way back to Elmhurst" and didn't know the twists and turns.

My brother and family live in Round Lake, we've given him hard time saying "it's Wisconsin" and I go "roads [IL 120, 60] are so narrow, when will they come to 21st Century?"   

[JoePCool14]

Good thing they aren't extending it too far. I drove the whole thing almost in one go, from I-55 all the way to I-90. I don't want to ruin my almost-clinch!

I-55 to I-90 does not clinch the road Joe. Did you forget it goes to Antioch? Or am I misunderstanding you?

He DID say "almost".

That's honestly a good third (maybe more) of the route left unclinched. That said, I often forget how far North it goes myself (and I've never been on it North of where it splits off US 12 in Fox Lake). It's definitely a more prominent route South of I-90, though, as most sections North of I-90, aside from the section right around the Arboretum and the multiplexed sections, are narrow two lane roadway.

Yeah, I know it goes further, all the way to IL-173. I had clinched bits and pieces of IL-59 north of I-90 before this mega-marathon. I had just come from pretty far south, so I wasn't interested in finishing it that day.

At this point, I just have the segment between US-12 and IL-132 to go. I'm also nearly finished with every mile of state highway in Lake County. Just have a bit of IL-173 east of I-94 left, in addition to the aforementioned IL-59 segment.

In Du Page, we think of IL 83, 53 and 59 as major roads, but in Lake Co, they meander and duplex with other routes. 59 is a secondary route.

My Mom got lost driving on 83 from Grayslake, missed the turn from Mchenry Rd to Elmhurst Rd, thinking, "I'll take 83 all the way back to Elmhurst" and didn't know the twists and turns.

My brother and family live in Round Lake, we've given him hard time saying "it's Wisconsin" and I go "roads [IL 120, 60] are so narrow, when will they come to 21st Century?"   

Even Wisconsin has better roads than Lake County. (Weird, I feel like I can hear a certain individual screaming in the distance as I type this...)

[edwaleni]

In Du Page, we think of IL 83, 53 and 59 as major roads, but in Lake Co, they meander and duplex with other routes. 59 is a secondary route.

My Mom got lost driving on 83 from Grayslake, missed the turn from Mchenry Rd to Elmhurst Rd, thinking, "I'll take 83 all the way back to Elmhurst" and didn't know the twists and turns.

My brother and family live in Round Lake, we've given him hard time saying "it's Wisconsin" and I go "roads [IL 120, 60] are so narrow, when will they come to 21st Century?"   

Probably becuase DuPage is really a grid type of pass through county.

Lake County is unique in that the early roads were from Chicago to central Wisconsin which give them a NW/SE tweak. Hard to merge with a grid system.

As for the narrow roads in that area, yes, I have traversed them many times during the hey day of the Alpine Valley Music Theater. We used to try and beat the system by finding back ways to get in and out of there and back to Illinois.

[US20IL64]

In Du Page, we think of IL 83, 53 and 59 as major roads, but in Lake Co, they meander and duplex with other routes. 59 is a secondary route.

My Mom got lost driving on 83 from Grayslake, missed the turn from Mchenry Rd to Elmhurst Rd, thinking, "I'll take 83 all the way back to Elmhurst" and didn't know the twists and turns.

My brother and family live in Round Lake, we've given him hard time saying "it's Wisconsin" and I go "roads [IL 120, 60] are so narrow, when will they come to 21st Century?"   

Probably because DuPage is really a grid type of pass-through county.

Lake County is unique in that the early roads were from Chicago to central Wisconsin which give them a NW/SE tweak. Hard to merge with a grid system.

As for the narrow roads in that area, yes, I have traversed them many times during the heyday of the Alpine Valley Music Theater. We used to try and beat the system by finding back ways to get in and out of there and back to Illinois.

You're right and the IL 53 extension was voted down, too. But I do like Peterson Rd and IL 43, Waukegan Rd [I call it Harlem Av]. I work at North Chicago VA and "Harlem" is good alternative going south.

[JoePCool14]

I drove Waukegan Rd (IL-43) up to its northern terminus at US-41 yesterday. I thought it would make for a nice change of pace from the usual I-94. It's a decent alternative. There aren't too many signals, when compared to most IDOT arterials, which is nice.

Lake County's problem is mainly connectivity in the west. Many of the E-W roads are just insufficient, which is compounded by the fact that there's no great* N-S expressway.

* US-12 is terrible. Way too many signals. Needs to be 6 lanes as well. It's also too angled to be useful in certain situations.

[edwaleni]

I drove Waukegan Rd (IL-43) up to its northern terminus at US-41 yesterday. I thought it would make for a nice change of pace from the usual I-94. It's a decent alternative. There aren't too many signals, when compared to most IDOT arterials, which is nice.

Lake County's problem is mainly connectivity in the west. Many of the E-W roads are just insufficient, which is compounded by the fact that there's no great* N-S expressway.

* US-12 is terrible. Way too many signals. Needs to be 6 lanes as well. It's also too angled to be useful in certain situations.

I just can't figure out western Lake County.

According to the residents the #1 issue is traffic.  The #2 issue is sprawl.

But if you look at the number of developments that have been built in the past 30 years, they allowed these massive neighborhoods to go in.

IDOT, thinking of the future bought up all this land in anticipation of the traffic, but the residents won't allow it, thinking new roads will bring more sprawl.

I hate to share the bad news but the sprawl has already arrived and is well placed even without the new roads. Not much vacant land left to develop now.

So I am not sure anymore what they are fighting against. They have met the enemy and its themselves.

[JoePCool14]

People still think Lake County is this rural bastion, completely separate from Chicago and its suburbs. In 2023, a significant portion of the county is engulfed in Chicagoland sprawl. There are still some vacant spots, and some spots that see little traffic, but that only applies to the most northern sections.

[3467]

Capitol Fax has 2 threads today. The Senate has passed a bill that authorized a PPP for the South Suburban airport. It's under its almost a law. That generated discussion of the Illiana.
Also a House committee has approved a bill for the Stevenson managed lane Its under Question of the Day with links to the studies.

This is older but the is no resolution of the Route 53 ROW IDOT  and Mundelein do not want to give up yet.

[edwaleni]

Capitol Fax has 2 threads today. The Senate has passed a bill that authorized a PPP for the South Suburban airport. It's under its almost a law. That generated discussion of the Illiana.
Also a House committee has approved a bill for the Stevenson managed lane Its under Question of the Day with links to the studies.

This is older but the is no resolution of the Route 53 ROW IDOT  and Mundelein do not want to give up yet.

I think I said my piece on that FAP ages ago. I was there (hearings etc.) when I-355 was planned and built and Lake County needs it more now than DuPage did in 1987 when it was approved!

I am just stunned at these municipalities who have allowed subdivisons to be built right up against a future freeway. Where IDOT had to go and buy the parcels directly from the developer to maintain the ROW becuase the city planners refused to protect it.

Time to come back to earth here. Illinois is messed up politically. If I wasn't born and raised there I guess it wouldnt matter too much.

IDOT owns a alot of land for the SSA and if they end up turning their backs on it, some connected developer will do quite well by it. But greater Chicago does need an air freight terminal in that spot. Rockford has it covered for FedEx and Amazon in the northern area.

And while people laughed off the Great Plains Railroad proposal for the SSA due to lack of any funds, if the SSA is built, they *will* need some rail connectivity, just not as much as Great Plains thought it would get. CSX will not forward freight from Chicago to Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. It must be drayed (trucked) unless its a unit train or bulk/hazmat material. And that is where a future Illiana will come to play, air freight forwarding by truck.

My last bulk order out of the far east took over a month to clear customs at O'Hare due to congestion. It is just not equipped to handle the volume of bulk freight that Asia delivers daily. It only took 2 days for the truck to reach the delivery address once it got out of purgatory.

[roadman65]

I was going through GSV and noticed this control city for I-355.
https://goo.gl/maps/atkkXDfWFZ6CeM9X7
I know that I-290 uses something similar in Chicago, but didn't know about this on I-355.

[ilpt4u]

I was going through GSV and noticed this control city for I-355.
https://goo.gl/maps/atkkXDfWFZ6CeM9X7
I know that I-290 uses something similar in Chicago, but didn't know about this on I-355.

Pretty sure it starts at I-88, 355 using Northwest Suburbs
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rfs5R57nxG1VuNCu8?g_st=ic

Looking deeper, NW Suburbs is signed as the Entrance control NB starting at 75th St
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bPFcAS5a95NN5MFX9?g_st=ic

Why the controls aren't Schaumburg, Downers Grove, and Joliet/New Lenox, I do not have an answer

[edwaleni]

I was going through GSV and noticed this control city for I-355.
https://goo.gl/maps/atkkXDfWFZ6CeM9X7
I know that I-290 uses something similar in Chicago, but didn't know about this on I-355.

Pretty sure it starts at I-88, 355 using Northwest Suburbs
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rfs5R57nxG1VuNCu8?g_st=ic

Looking deeper, NW Suburbs is signed as the Entrance control NB starting at 75th St
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bPFcAS5a95NN5MFX9?g_st=ic

Why the controls aren't Schaumburg, Downers Grove, and Joliet/New Lenox, I do not have an answer

Everyone wants to be a control city, so they just do this.

[Brandon]

I was going through GSV and noticed this control city for I-355.
https://goo.gl/maps/atkkXDfWFZ6CeM9X7
I know that I-290 uses something similar in Chicago, but didn't know about this on I-355.

Pretty sure it starts at I-88, 355 using Northwest Suburbs
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rfs5R57nxG1VuNCu8?g_st=ic

Looking deeper, NW Suburbs is signed as the Entrance control NB starting at 75th St
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bPFcAS5a95NN5MFX9?g_st=ic

Why the controls aren't Schaumburg, Downers Grove, and Joliet/New Lenox, I do not have an answer

I-355's controls are as follows (I drive it daily):
NB: Rockford (at I-80 only), West Suburbs, Northwest Suburbs (starting at I-55).
SB: Joliet, Joliet/St Louis (once at Army Trail Rd), South Suburbs (at Boughton Rd only), Southwest Suburbs (starting at I-55).
Ironically, you're in the southwest suburbs with the control of "Southwest Suburbs".

The way it should be, IMHO:
NB: Bolingbrook, Schaumburg.  Both are at major interchanges and are over 70,000 in population.  DG is much smaller.
SB: Joliet, New Lenox/Indiana.  From I-55 NB, "Indiana" makes more sense than New Lenox, fitting in with I-294 later on, and the main lanes go east on I-80.  "New Lenox" or "New Lenox/Lockport" makes more sense SB on I-55.

[ilpt4u]

I went with DG because of ISTHA HQ right at the 88/355 interchange, but Bolingbrook would be a fine "central"  355 control if IDOT and ISTHA actually wanted to use, idk, actual cities/towns/villages/etc for controls instead of (directional) Suburbs

[CtrlAltDel]

They should probably just go with Wisconsin and Indiana. 

[ilpt4u]

They should probably just go with Wisconsin and Indiana. 

[ET21]

One of my favorites is Cicero Ave SB to I-294NB, Western Suburbs is the control city

[roadman65]

One fix would be to have no control cities at all.

[abefroman329]

Will be interesting to see how bad backups spill up north and west.

I drove for Lyft for a few days over the long weekend and got to see for myself.

It looks like they've adjusted for the fact that they took two lanes away from the inbound Kennedy by making the reversibles inbound at all times.  Learned that the hard way.

Traffic didn't seem that much worse than any given holiday weekend.

[paulthemapguy]

One fix would be to have no control cities at all.

Honestly no control city would be better than some of the idiotic ones found around Chicagoland.

[Henry]

One fix would be to have no control cities at all.

Honestly no control city would be better than some of the idiotic ones found around Chicagoland.

Hey, while I concede that there are better control city choices than the ones currently up, I wouldn't call them idiotic, no matter how much I hate them. However, it's easy to see why certain users on here like to refer to the DOT as "IDiOT".

[Revive 755]

^ Given how vague and misleading some of the choices are, not having control cities would be better.  Take the use of "Southwest Suburbs" on I-355:  This one seems more applicable to I-55 (Plainfield and Shorewood) than I-355 (which has a slight bend to the east).

Even using "To I-80" and "To I-90" would be better than using the current choices.