Illinois notes

[paulthemapguy]

IDOT totally failed at designing this traffic signal.  Could someone tell district 4 that they don't have to put a signal head on the mast every time?  Put a second head on the mast arm, like in every other IDOT district!  This isn't even a FYA signal.  Note that I'm judging based on IDOT standards and not just MUTCD standards.  See if you can find the 5-section tower that's missing!

[Brandon]

Column: How billboards warning motorists of I-80 bridge safety concerns created one of 2019′s biggest local political stories

[edwaleni]

Column: How billboards warning motorists of I-80 bridge safety concerns created one of 2019′s biggest local political stories

I wish it was that easy. This wasn't a ruse to get IDOT to move, it was a ruse to get a new tax passed.

IDOT can only do what they are allotted.  If taxpayers or legislature aren't prepared to dole more up, then this is what you get.

A bunch of union promoted billboards to scare people into doing something, and by golly it worked.

Was the bridge deficient? Of course it was! Was it unsafe, of course not.

But it got the attention of the "bleed, lets lead" media in Chicago and the rest is history.

There are several bridges just like this one that are structurally deficient but safe across the state.

Yes, I get it, it's I-80, but go stick a bunch of billboards in various towns along the Illinois River, the Wabash River and on the Mississippi in a couple of places and see if you get the same reaction. I doubt it.

Maybe the US-50 Coalition should start a billboard attack by placing billboards in 3 key areas.

- Springfield along I-55 north and south of town
- On I-70 and I-64 east of St Louis
- On US-50 after you cross the Red Skelton Bridge from Indiana.

Be blunt.  Say "Illinois has promised to upgrade this road for almost 50 years, but always seems to forget or change their minds.  Call your rep, ask them why?

Same thing up on US-20.  Have one of those billboards that show a large bright number, "7,256 accidents have occurred on this road since 1976, killing over 12,235 drivers. How many more have to die before Illinois takes action?"  Put one west of Rockford, one west of Freeport and another after crossing the Mississippi in Dubuque.

Hey if works great....but don't take the billboards down until the ground breaks, in case they change their minds at the last second.

[3467]

Great points Edwaleni.
First they have to get it out of their heads that the is just a choice between freeway or very close or nothing

[paulthemapguy]

Apparently, Illinois 9 was just rerouted onto a bypass around the south side of Pekin!  Does anyone know about this or when this change took place?  I just clinched Illinois 9 today and found that Google Maps doesn't match signage in the field!  From east to west, Illinois 9 now follows the VFW Road (shown on this map) from Court Street southwest to Illinois 29.  IL-9 then duplexes with IL-29 north to its former alignment in downtown Pekin, to turn onto the bridge across the Illinois River.

[ilpt4u]

Apparently, Illinois 9 was just rerouted onto a bypass around the south side of Pekin!  Does anyone know about this or when this change took place?  I just clinched Illinois 9 today and found that Google Maps doesn't match signage in the field!  From east to west, Illinois 9 now follows the VFW Road (shown on this map) from Court Street southwest to Illinois 29.  IL-9 then duplexes with IL-29 north to its former alignment in downtown Pekin, to turn onto the bridge across the Illinois River.

IDOT pulling an InDOT? Turning over the Main Drag in Pekin to the Locals? Or is IDOT maintaining control of the old alignment also?

[Revive 755]

Turning over the main drag to the locals; see http://www.ci.pekin.il.us/departments/public_works/court_street_improvements.php.

I see a lot of through traffic staying on the old alignment since the bypass alignment will take longer.  Unless Pekin really makes the through route miserable to drive.

[paulthemapguy]

Turning over the main drag to the locals; see http://www.ci.pekin.il.us/departments/public_works/court_street_improvements.php.

I see a lot of through traffic staying on the old alignment since the bypass alignment will take longer.  Unless Pekin really makes the through route miserable to drive.

They probably did this so truck traffic would bypass downtown.  There are some turns you would have to make to get through downtown that would be uneasy for truckers.  Passenger cars would likely continue on the old route; I agree.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO5Po0xbopc

IDOT is shutting down I-255 between I-55/70 and I-64 starting on February 1.

[Brandon]

This just gets even better:

Disgraced state Sen. Martin Sandoval aided a political donor by pressuring IDOT to use asphalt material suspected of causing new roads to crack

The debate about the quality of pavement produced with shingles continues in Illinois.

IDOT and U. of I.'s Center for Transportation came up with a way to measure the likelihood of pavement cracking, and that test was used in a 2017 joint federal-state transportation study of roads that were less than three years old. The study found the projects that used the highest concentration of recycled shingles scored half as well as those using less or none at all.

Part of the study looked at nine stretches of road a year after they were repaved. The two with the most cracks were the only ones that had used recycled shingles: a stretch of 79th Street between Justice and Burbank, and a stretch of 159th Street from Cicero to Western avenues. They had more than triple the number of cracks as their closest competitor.

[3467]

Can the state due him and the company for damages?

[ET21]

79th Street sucks with pavement quality as bad as I-55 in its notorious stretch from Weber to I-80. Poor quality, always has been.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Somebody's been spending too much time in New Jersey and Oregon - is this some kind of stupid "job creation" idea? That's what the bill's name reads like. 

https://kbjr6.com/2020/02/10/legislation-filed-to-ban-pumping-your-own-gas-in-illinois/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KBJR_6&fbclid=IwAR23dmEOMq6sNQpMylCKCkf4KeE3UZugnyu-VGWvmExGgvBJ9aGQ57oiWe4

[Brandon]

Somebody's been spending too much time in New Jersey and Oregon - is this some kind of stupid "job creation" idea? That's what the bill's name reads like. 

https://kbjr6.com/2020/02/10/legislation-filed-to-ban-pumping-your-own-gas-in-illinois/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KBJR_6&fbclid=IwAR23dmEOMq6sNQpMylCKCkf4KeE3UZugnyu-VGWvmExGgvBJ9aGQ57oiWe4

Lady's from Oak Park.  'Nough said.

[paulthemapguy]

Somebody's been spending too much time in New Jersey and Oregon - is this some kind of stupid "job creation" idea? That's what the bill's name reads like. 

https://kbjr6.com/2020/02/10/legislation-filed-to-ban-pumping-your-own-gas-in-illinois/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KBJR_6&fbclid=IwAR23dmEOMq6sNQpMylCKCkf4KeE3UZugnyu-VGWvmExGgvBJ9aGQ57oiWe4

I cannot stress how much of people's time this would waste.  We have plenty of actual problems we need to solve.  This bill endeavors to solve a problem that doesn't exist.  I absolutely loathe this idea.

[Revive 755]

Sounds like someone is trying to add further incentive to buy gas in neighboring states.

[NWI_Irish96]

Sounds like someone is trying to add further incentive to buy gas in neighboring states.

No kidding.  Let me know if this has any chance at passing.  I'll bulldoze my house and build a gas station and retire a millionaire in a couple years.

[ChiMilNet]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-jane-byrne-interchange-idot-illinois-museum-chicago-20200210-sii7hqkpnbbm3ieev273e7n7gi-story.html

A somewhat humorous, but also sadly very true, article about the Burn/Circle Interchange reconstruction. I think the most telling part is what is below. Being in the city, this construction has caused an already bad spot to really become a nightmare, and the traffic backups that are caused cannot be stated enough.

Long ago – September 2013 – the Illinois Department of Transportation started rebuilding what's now called the Jane Byrne Interchange. IDOT officials called the then-Circle Interchange the most congested crossroads in the nation, serving 400,000 motorists a day. The project, begun with reconstruction of the Morgan Street bridge, would take 4½ years – until June 2018 – and cost $535.5 million.

That was then. The schedule at the museum site has slow-w-wed to a crawl, and everything is much more expensive. The Tribune's Mary Wisniewski and Joe Mahr now report that the estimated cost keeps rising, currently to $796.5 million, according to an IDOT report. And springtime will bring Construction Season Eight: Wisniewski and Mahr say the state expects to finish the project by Nov. 1, 2022.

[skluth]

Sounds like someone is trying to add further incentive to buy gas in neighboring states.

I used to live in St Louis. Gasoline is significantly cheaper in Missouri. My coworkers would all buy gas on South Broadway (I worked near the brewery) before heading back to Illinois.

[edwaleni]

Sounds like someone is trying to add further incentive to buy gas in neighboring states.

I used to live in St Louis. Gasoline is significantly cheaper in Missouri. My coworkers would all buy gas on South Broadway (I worked near the brewery) before heading back to Illinois.

Gas in Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky are all cheaper generally speaking than Illinois.

But also consider Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky don't have populations, industry and GDP the size of Illinois either.  That is why they collectively have fewer interstate miles to support. But these states aren't nearly as broke as Illinois either.

[Brandon]

Sounds like someone is trying to add further incentive to buy gas in neighboring states.

I used to live in St Louis. Gasoline is significantly cheaper in Missouri. My coworkers would all buy gas on South Broadway (I worked near the brewery) before heading back to Illinois.

Gas in Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky are all cheaper generally speaking than Illinois.

But also consider Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky don't have populations, industry and GDP the size of Illinois either.  That is why they collectively have fewer interstate miles to support. But these states aren't nearly as broke as Illinois either.

They also don't see the need to soak residents or travelers as much as Illinois either.  Hell, fuel is cheaper in Wisconsin and Iowa as well.

[kphoger]

Gas in Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky are all cheaper generally speaking than Illinois.

I once hitched a ride from a guy on I-57 in Tuscola who was headed home to Michigan.  He told me his goal is always to make it from Kentucky to NW Indiana without filling up with gas, so as to avoid the higher price of gas.

[ilpt4u]

Call me crazy, but I find gas cheaper in Effingham or at the IL 1 exit on I-64 than over in Terre Haute on I-70 or Evansville on I-64

Gas ain't always cheaper in Indiana

[Great Lakes Roads]

http://newschannel20.com/news/local/proposed-bill-would-increase-interstate-speed-limit

What do you guys think about raising the speed limit to 75 mph on Illinois's interstates?

[Brandon]

http://newschannel20.com/news/local/proposed-bill-would-increase-interstate-speed-limit

What do you guys think about raising the speed limit to 75 mph on Illinois's interstates?

Overdue, should've been done years ago.