Illinois Tollway Notes

[3467]

There are election changes that could affect the tollway. Both Lake and Will flipped blue.Based on JBs shall I say political temperament model is Jim Edgar a form Republican governor I suspect he will want the tollway to go along with the county boards. I have no idea what he flip means for 53 or any revival of the Illiana.Curious for any NE Illinois insight.

[ilpt4u]

For a historical reference, it took Blago to get the I-355 Will County Extension to I-80 built

[3467]

Right I remember.  Madigan wouldn't give him a capital bill because he feared Blago was going to use it for kickbacks....so Blago went for a huge Tollway program. Won't be an issue now.  JB was undecided in 53 other dems were against.  I suspect he will leave it to the process and Lake county.  Just wonder what new board members think.

[Rick Powell]

The project most ready to go is the I-55 toll lane expansion, but needs state legislation if they want to fund it as a Public-Private Partnership. Despite a few efforts, Rauner and the state GA didn't get it done during his term. Not sure of the tollway's ultimate role in this one.

[edwaleni]

The project most ready to go is the I-55 toll lane expansion, but needs state legislation if they want to fund it as a Public-Private Partnership. Despite a few efforts, Rauner and the state GA didn't get it done during his term. Not sure of the tollway's ultimate role in this one.

You mean Rauner and Madigan.  The GA in its current form is pretty impotent.

[Brandon]

The project most ready to go is the I-55 toll lane expansion, but needs state legislation if they want to fund it as a Public-Private Partnership. Despite a few efforts, Rauner and the state GA didn't get it done during his term. Not sure of the tollway's ultimate role in this one.

You mean Rauner and Madigan.  The GA in its current form is pretty impotent.

It is, to say the least, a rubber stamp for King Mike.

[dcharlie]

Does anyone know how close they are to completing the construction on I-88 between Aurora and Rochelle?

[ET21]

Does anyone know how close they are to completing the construction on I-88 between Aurora and Rochelle?

early/mid 2019

[jwags]

Anyone know what's going on with the plan to replace the coin baskets with automated toll machines? Over the weekend I noticed that on WB I-90 at the IL-173 exit the sign for the exit indicated that Cash/Credit was accepted. This was the first I've noticed this signage. The Tollway's website still lists ramp tolls as requiring coins. I've had an I-Pass for years so it's more of a curiosity thing for me.

[tribar]

Anyone know what's going on with the plan to replace the coin baskets with automated toll machines? Over the weekend I noticed that on WB I-90 at the IL-173 exit the sign for the exit indicated that Cash/Credit was accepted. This was the first I've noticed this signage. The Tollway's website still lists ramp tolls as requiring coins. I've had an I-Pass for years so it's more of a curiosity thing for me.

ISTHA is switching over to self use cash/credit machines. Some plazas have them and some still haven't been updated and only take coins.

[abefroman329]

Anyone know what's going on with the plan to replace the coin baskets with automated toll machines? Over the weekend I noticed that on WB I-90 at the IL-173 exit the sign for the exit indicated that Cash/Credit was accepted. This was the first I've noticed this signage. The Tollway's website still lists ramp tolls as requiring coins. I've had an I-Pass for years so it's more of a curiosity thing for me.

ISTHA is switching over to self use cash/credit machines. Some plazas have them and some still haven't been updated and only take coins.

Also, they're no longer cash lanes, they're called...something else, I forgot what it was.

[tribar]

Anyone know what's going on with the plan to replace the coin baskets with automated toll machines? Over the weekend I noticed that on WB I-90 at the IL-173 exit the sign for the exit indicated that Cash/Credit was accepted. This was the first I've noticed this signage. The Tollway's website still lists ramp tolls as requiring coins. I've had an I-Pass for years so it's more of a curiosity thing for me.

ISTHA is switching over to self use cash/credit machines. Some plazas have them and some still haven't been updated and only take coins.

Also, they're no longer cash lanes, they're called...something else, I forgot what it was.

Self service lanes.

[abefroman329]

Anyone know what's going on with the plan to replace the coin baskets with automated toll machines? Over the weekend I noticed that on WB I-90 at the IL-173 exit the sign for the exit indicated that Cash/Credit was accepted. This was the first I've noticed this signage. The Tollway's website still lists ramp tolls as requiring coins. I've had an I-Pass for years so it's more of a curiosity thing for me.

ISTHA is switching over to self use cash/credit machines. Some plazas have them and some still haven't been updated and only take coins.

Also, they're no longer cash lanes, they're called...something else, I forgot what it was.

Self service lanes.

Which is a stupid name, since it implies there are full-service lanes, and there aren't at exit/entrance ramp toll plazas.

[Brandon]

Anyone know what's going on with the plan to replace the coin baskets with automated toll machines? Over the weekend I noticed that on WB I-90 at the IL-173 exit the sign for the exit indicated that Cash/Credit was accepted. This was the first I've noticed this signage. The Tollway's website still lists ramp tolls as requiring coins. I've had an I-Pass for years so it's more of a curiosity thing for me.

ISTHA is switching over to self use cash/credit machines. Some plazas have them and some still haven't been updated and only take coins.

Also, they're no longer cash lanes, they're called...something else, I forgot what it was.

Self service lanes.

Which is a stupid name, since it implies there are full-service lanes, and there aren't at exit/entrance ramp toll plazas.

However, there are these new "self service lanes" at main line toll plazas as well (all three on I-355 for example) near the "full service" manned lanes.

[abefroman329]

However, there are these new "self service lanes" at main line toll plazas as well (all three on I-355 for example) near the "full service" manned lanes.

Now watch how quickly the remaining full-service lanes are converted to self-service lanes.

Apologies if I'm repeating myself, but paying tolls by credit card is nothing new.  The Dulles Greenway offered that option 20 years ago, possibly as far back as when the road first opened, though that might have been necessity due to the high cost-per-mile of the tolls.

[edwaleni]

Per Trains and Chicago Tribune

Highway widening plan will require BNSF to replace bridge on triple-track main




HINSDALE, Ill. – Planning is underway for the widening of an Illinois toll road that will require BNSF to build a new bridge on its triple-track main line west of Chicago, although Hinsdale opposes the project, the Hinsdale Doings reports.

The BNSF bridge over Interstate 294 between Hinsdale and Western Springs is the narrowest point on the stretch of highway that is to be widened from four to six lanes in each direction. To replace it, the railroad will build a shoofly with a three-track temporary bridge, then remove and replace the existing bridge. More than 150 Metra, BNSF, and Amtrak trains use the route daily.

The project's timeline is a lengthy one: Site preparation is projected to begin in August 2019 and take a year, with the construction of the temporary bridge from August to December 2020. The removal and replacement of the current bridge would follow in 2021.

Neighborhood concerns over the project include the possibility that construction will encroach onto residents' property, construction traffic, and the construction of a railroad siding that will be used to store maintenance equipment.

[edwaleni]

Site preparation for tollway widening expected in August, despite continued opposition in Hinsdale and Western Springs

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/hinsdale/news/ct-dhd-tollway-bnsf-bridge-tl-1122-story.html

The first steps of widening Interstate 294 through Hinsdale and Western Springs involve building a temporary railroad bridge over the tollway for Metra and BNSF freight trains to use during the expansion project.

Preparing the site for the temporary bridge, known as a shoofly, is expected to start in August and take about a year to complete, tollway officials said at a community meeting Thursday in Hinsdale Village Hall.

Hinsdale officials oppose the tollway's plan to widen the section of Interstate 294 by Hinsdale from four lanes to six in both directions, plus a flex lane on either side of the center median.

"We are not giving up,"  said Hinsdale assistant village manager Bradley Bloom. "We are continuing to work with the tollway."

The tollway needs the village to grant temporary easements to do part of the project.

"We do not have any agreements with the tollway,"  Bloom said.

Homeowners who live near Interstate 294 and the railroad were concerned about whether the construction will encroach on their property.

The tollway officials seemed receptive of a suggestion from residents of Highland Avenue, which runs east from County Line Road and south of the railroad tracks, to set up a fence or a barricade to prevent that from happening.

Rocco Zucchero, the tollway's chief planning officer, said all construction vehicles and equipment will reach their work sites from the tollway side, but said they could put a fence of some sort near County Line Road to prevent construction vehicles from going that way.

Residents, such as Jerry Mejdrich who lives on Highland, said the workers might be tempted to use a gravel drive on the railroad right of way that runs adjacent to their backyards, if it's an easier route.

To prepare for building the temporary bridge, workers will clear trees and brush along the railroad and build a retaining wall that will rise from 5 feet to 10 feet high on the south side of the railroad.

Veeck Park lies to the south of the railroad between Highland Road and the tollway. An old brick sewer that runs through Veeck Park will be replaced before construction of the temporary bridge starts for fear it would collapse under the weight of construction equipment, Bloom said.

A sewer line that runs west of the park to County Line Road will be relined to reinforce it so it can withstand the construction traffic, Bloom said.

The site preparation is estimated to take from August 2019 to August 2020, said Dan Filice, a design section engineer for the project. From August 2020 to December 2020, BNSF is expected to lay the temporary tracks on the bridge.

The temporary railroad bridge will have three tracks, the same as BNSF's main line. It will be designed so trains can cross it at their usual speed, 70 mph, so there will be no slow zones for trains during the widening project, Zucchero said.

Once all trains are running on the shoofly, the existing bridge and tracks will be removed. That work is expected to continue into 2021, Zucchero said.

The BNSF railroad bridge is the narrowest bridge on the busiest section of the tollway, tollway officials said. An average of about 104 Metra and Amtrak trains and 52 freight trains cross the bridge daily, the tollway reported.

As part of the project, BNSF will build a stretch of track south of its main line where it can store maintenance vehicles and equipment. The maintenance track, which will stretch from about 500 feet east of the tollway to about 800 feet west of the tollway, will remain after the tollway expansion is finished.

The railroad is supposed to park equipment there only temporarily or overnight, when BNSF crews are doing maintenance on the section of railroad between La Grange and Clarendon Hills, Bloom said.

"They're not going to store train cars or Metra cars there,"  Bloom said.

Hinsdale officials hope BNSF will design the maintenance track so all the vehicles would enter from the east side. The west end would be a dead end and not reconnect with the main track.

Hinsdale also wants BNSF to park its equipment as far to the east as possible on the maintenance track, so it would be over the lanes of I-294, to avoid having "very ugly maintenance vehicles looming over our parks"  on the west side of the tollway.

Parked railroad vehicles also could be an attractive nuisance to children playing in the parks, Bloom said.

The landscaping is designed to screen any railroad maintenance vehicles from the view of people in Veeck or Peirce parks.

But residents of Western Springs, which is on the east side of the tollway, are concerned about the maintenance track, too, said village manager Ingrid Velkme. Western Springs' Spring Rock Park is southeast of where the tollway and the railroad cross.

"We understand Hinsdale would like to move everything as far east as possible, but Western Springs would like everything as far west as possible,"  Velkme said.

BNSF told her Nov. 15 the design of the maintenance track was not finalized, Velkme said.

Meanwhile, Western Springs officials are working with their local and state representatives and U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, a Western Springs Democrat, to address their concerns about the project, Velkme said.

[mgk920]

I'm kind of amazed in that the temporary bypass bridge will maintain full track speed during the bridge replacement project.  That's going to require a lengthy set of bypass tracks and lots of money from the ISTHA.



Mike

[ET21]

I'm kind of amazed in that the temporary bypass bridge will maintain full track speed during the bridge replacement project.  That's going to require a lengthy set of bypass tracks and lots of money from the ISTHA.



Mike

They got plenty of cash, plus it helps with a very busy rail corridor between freight and passenger

[abefroman329]

I'm kind of amazed in that the temporary bypass bridge will maintain full track speed during the bridge replacement project.  That's going to require a lengthy set of bypass tracks and lots of money from the ISTHA.



Mike

I believe it's Metra's busiest line, if not in terms of frequency, then certainly in the number of passengers carried on those trains. Plus they just had a rash of canceled trains over the summer when they were installing Positive Train Control. If they had to cancel services during bridge replacement due to lowered speeds, there'd be public hangings.

Oh, and I forgot the four different Amtrak services that operate over it.

[edwaleni]

I'm kind of amazed in that the temporary bypass bridge will maintain full track speed during the bridge replacement project.  That's going to require a lengthy set of bypass tracks and lots of money from the ISTHA.



Mike

I believe it's Metra's busiest line, if not in terms of frequency, then certainly in the number of passengers carried on those trains. Plus they just had a rash of canceled trains over the summer when they were installing Positive Train Control. If they had to cancel services during bridge replacement due to lowered speeds, there'd be public hangings.

Oh, and I forgot the four different Amtrak services that operate over it.

Metra, Amtrak and several container hotshots going to Cicero Yard and IHB. There is a reason it is called the "Racetrack".

It clear from above the tollway is pinched at this bridge.

[kphoger]

I believe it's Metra's busiest line, if not in terms of frequency, then certainly in the number of passengers carried on those trains.

Correct.

[abefroman329]

I believe it's Metra's busiest line, if not in terms of frequency, then certainly in the number of passengers carried on those trains.

Correct.

Well, busiest in terms of passengers carried; I think the Metra Electric is the busiest in terms of frequency.

64,000 people ride the BNSF each weekday, that's a lot of complaints about slower/canceled trains due to a temporary bridge with a lower speed limit.

[Rick Powell]

Metra Electric is the only line with no "freight train interference"  so they can run at shorter headways if desired. Also, there are 3 separate branches all feeding into the service (Blue Island, South Chicago and the University Park-Millenium Station mainline) adding to the service frequency. When Metra has a cash squeeze, they usually look to the electric service where ridership has been dropping to look at service cuts.

The BNSF has already had to adjust their schedules to accommodate Positive Train Control, where it takes an extra 10 minutes to turn a train around to re-set all the electronics necessary to make it work. Adding a slow order section for a year or 2 of bridge work would definitely not be received well.

[abefroman329]

When Metra has a cash squeeze, they usually look to the electric service where ridership has been dropping to look at service cuts.

They've even talked about selling it to the CTA. I don't know why ridership should be dropping, considering the neighborhoods it travels through are rapidly gentrifying.