News:

The AARoads Wiki is live! Come check it out!

Main Menu

Chicago Skyway McDonalds

Started by jwags, December 18, 2014, 10:45:00 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

D-Dey65

Old thread, but earlier today I was searching the Wikimedia Commons category for Service Areas in the US, so I could split off a future category for Illinois Tollway Oases. The old McDonalds on the Chicago Skyway isn't part of that, but it made me think I'd like to put this on my road trip bucket list. I see that's not possible now.




dvferyance

Quote from: D-Dey65 on August 18, 2020, 11:08:39 AM
Old thread, but earlier today I was searching the Wikimedia Commons category for Service Areas in the US, so I could split off a future category for Illinois Tollway Oases. The old McDonalds on the Chicago Skyway isn't part of that, but it made me think I'd like to put this on my road trip bucket list. I see that's not possible now.
I remember my first trip on the Skyway back in the mid 90's I saw signs that said Skyway Oasis McDonalds. I was expecting a real one like the ones over the tollway to my surprise it was in the middle of the tollway by the toll plaza. Despite the signs it wasn't an official Illinois Tollway Oasis because the Skyway is run by a different agency.

edwaleni

Quote from: edwaleni on June 29, 2018, 06:10:44 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 04:01:47 PM
Quote from: Joe The Dragon on June 25, 2018, 03:44:23 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 25, 2018, 09:25:29 AM
Tollway Oasis trivia.

The I-88 Reagan Tollway electronic toll collection zone in Downers Grove was land originally acquired to build yet another overhead oasis.

Why it never got built when IL-5 was built no one knows. The land sat empty for some 50 plus years until ISTHA demolished the Oak Brook collection zone and shifted it west.
the Oak Brook tolls where spilt up to make room for Hi speed tolling but it looks like there is only room for one side of an oasis in Downers Grove.
But what is need? on I-294 both ways you where not far from them.

I agree that there doesn't appear to be enough room if you look here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Downers+Grove,+IL/@41.8374883,-87.9978197,842m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e5174f031d539:0x1de1b9b6ac3938a!8m2!3d41.8089191!4d-88.0111746

Maybe they sold the land on the north side of the tollway?  If not, you'd have had to shift the roadway south in order to have room for parking lots on both sides, and that would be unusual.

Yes, there are oases on 294, but that wouldn't do you much good if you were traveling from Chicago to points west.

When I read about that years ago I thought the same thing.

Now mind you there were no developments around there in 1956, so they might have sold off one side in the late 60's or early 70's.

I will check some historical aerials and see what was there.

I guess I never got back to this.  ISTHA sold the north land for the Oasis on I-88 after 1985. The south land was absorbed as part of the cash-free tolling. They still own a large parcel of surrounding land on the south side of I-88. They bought the land when the road was built.  The utility easements date back to 1963. Aerials attribution: www.historicaerials.com. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 Nationwide Environmental Title Research, LLC.


I-39

Quote from: edwaleni on August 18, 2020, 10:33:47 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 29, 2018, 06:10:44 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 04:01:47 PM
Quote from: Joe The Dragon on June 25, 2018, 03:44:23 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 25, 2018, 09:25:29 AM
Tollway Oasis trivia.

The I-88 Reagan Tollway electronic toll collection zone in Downers Grove was land originally acquired to build yet another overhead oasis.

Why it never got built when IL-5 was built no one knows. The land sat empty for some 50 plus years until ISTHA demolished the Oak Brook collection zone and shifted it west.
the Oak Brook tolls where spilt up to make room for Hi speed tolling but it looks like there is only room for one side of an oasis in Downers Grove.
But what is need? on I-294 both ways you where not far from them.

I agree that there doesn't appear to be enough room if you look here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Downers+Grove,+IL/@41.8374883,-87.9978197,842m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e5174f031d539:0x1de1b9b6ac3938a!8m2!3d41.8089191!4d-88.0111746

Maybe they sold the land on the north side of the tollway?  If not, you'd have had to shift the roadway south in order to have room for parking lots on both sides, and that would be unusual.

Yes, there are oases on 294, but that wouldn't do you much good if you were traveling from Chicago to points west.

When I read about that years ago I thought the same thing.

Now mind you there were no developments around there in 1956, so they might have sold off one side in the late 60's or early 70's.

I will check some historical aerials and see what was there.

I guess I never got back to this.  ISTHA sold the north land for the Oasis on I-88 after 1985. The south land was absorbed as part of the cash-free tolling. They still own a large parcel of surrounding land on the south side of I-88. They bought the land when the road was built.  The utility easements date back to 1963. Aerials attribution: www.historicaerials.com. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 Nationwide Environmental Title Research, LLC.



That is super interesting, I never knew that. The Downers Grove Oasis that never was. I always wondered why they never put any Oases on the original portion of I-88.

I wonder why it was never built. Was there not enough traffic on the E/W Tollway when it first opened to justify it?

edwaleni

Quote from: I-39 on August 19, 2020, 12:34:38 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on August 18, 2020, 10:33:47 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 29, 2018, 06:10:44 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 04:01:47 PM
Quote from: Joe The Dragon on June 25, 2018, 03:44:23 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 25, 2018, 09:25:29 AM
Tollway Oasis trivia.

The I-88 Reagan Tollway electronic toll collection zone in Downers Grove was land originally acquired to build yet another overhead oasis.

Why it never got built when IL-5 was built no one knows. The land sat empty for some 50 plus years until ISTHA demolished the Oak Brook collection zone and shifted it west.
the Oak Brook tolls where spilt up to make room for Hi speed tolling but it looks like there is only room for one side of an oasis in Downers Grove.
But what is need? on I-294 both ways you where not far from them.

I agree that there doesn't appear to be enough room if you look here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Downers+Grove,+IL/@41.8374883,-87.9978197,842m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e5174f031d539:0x1de1b9b6ac3938a!8m2!3d41.8089191!4d-88.0111746

Maybe they sold the land on the north side of the tollway?  If not, you'd have had to shift the roadway south in order to have room for parking lots on both sides, and that would be unusual.

Yes, there are oases on 294, but that wouldn't do you much good if you were traveling from Chicago to points west.

When I read about that years ago I thought the same thing.

Now mind you there were no developments around there in 1956, so they might have sold off one side in the late 60's or early 70's.

I will check some historical aerials and see what was there.

I guess I never got back to this.  ISTHA sold the north land for the Oasis on I-88 after 1985. The south land was absorbed as part of the cash-free tolling. They still own a large parcel of surrounding land on the south side of I-88. They bought the land when the road was built.  The utility easements date back to 1963. Aerials attribution: www.historicaerials.com. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 Nationwide Environmental Title Research, LLC.



That is super interesting, I never knew that. The Downers Grove Oasis that never was. I always wondered why they never put any Oases on the original portion of I-88.

I wonder why it was never built. Was there not enough traffic on the E/W Tollway when it first opened to justify it?

I can't find anything specific, but I can speculate that the land was sold sometime around the same time the I-355 project was about to ramp up. ISTHA had planned to move to a new massive HQ at the intersection of I-355 and I-88 and were already selling their old HQ land at I-88 and Midwest Road. My guess is that this was done as a package deal and ISTHA leased the old HQ until the new one was ready.

As to why it was never built, the original Oasis's were paid for by Amoco (Standard Oil of Indiana) as part of a 25 year concession to be the sole gasoline supplier.  With the then called IL-5 terminating in Sugar Grove and not being connected to the national Interstate network on both ends, I would assume Amoco declined to pay for it for lack of business potential. It wasn't until the road was extended to Rock Falls that ISTHA built an oasis in DeKalb.

To pay for the original oasis, Amoco (Standard) was allowed to charge 5 cents more per gallon for gas to recover their costs.

I-39

Quote from: edwaleni on August 24, 2020, 09:33:35 AM
Quote from: I-39 on August 19, 2020, 12:34:38 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on August 18, 2020, 10:33:47 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 29, 2018, 06:10:44 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 04:01:47 PM
Quote from: Joe The Dragon on June 25, 2018, 03:44:23 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 25, 2018, 09:25:29 AM
Tollway Oasis trivia.

The I-88 Reagan Tollway electronic toll collection zone in Downers Grove was land originally acquired to build yet another overhead oasis.

Why it never got built when IL-5 was built no one knows. The land sat empty for some 50 plus years until ISTHA demolished the Oak Brook collection zone and shifted it west.
the Oak Brook tolls where spilt up to make room for Hi speed tolling but it looks like there is only room for one side of an oasis in Downers Grove.
But what is need? on I-294 both ways you where not far from them.

I agree that there doesn't appear to be enough room if you look here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Downers+Grove,+IL/@41.8374883,-87.9978197,842m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e5174f031d539:0x1de1b9b6ac3938a!8m2!3d41.8089191!4d-88.0111746

Maybe they sold the land on the north side of the tollway?  If not, you'd have had to shift the roadway south in order to have room for parking lots on both sides, and that would be unusual.

Yes, there are oases on 294, but that wouldn't do you much good if you were traveling from Chicago to points west.

When I read about that years ago I thought the same thing.

Now mind you there were no developments around there in 1956, so they might have sold off one side in the late 60's or early 70's.

I will check some historical aerials and see what was there.

I guess I never got back to this.  ISTHA sold the north land for the Oasis on I-88 after 1985. The south land was absorbed as part of the cash-free tolling. They still own a large parcel of surrounding land on the south side of I-88. They bought the land when the road was built.  The utility easements date back to 1963. Aerials attribution: www.historicaerials.com. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 Nationwide Environmental Title Research, LLC.



That is super interesting, I never knew that. The Downers Grove Oasis that never was. I always wondered why they never put any Oases on the original portion of I-88.

I wonder why it was never built. Was there not enough traffic on the E/W Tollway when it first opened to justify it?

I can't find anything specific, but I can speculate that the land was sold sometime around the same time the I-355 project was about to ramp up. ISTHA had planned to move to a new massive HQ at the intersection of I-355 and I-88 and were already selling their old HQ land at I-88 and Midwest Road. My guess is that this was done as a package deal and ISTHA leased the old HQ until the new one was ready.

As to why it was never built, the original Oasis's were paid for by Amoco (Standard Oil of Indiana) as part of a 25 year concession to be the sole gasoline supplier.  With the then called IL-5 terminating in Sugar Grove and not being connected to the national Interstate network on both ends, I would assume Amoco declined to pay for it for lack of business potential. It wasn't until the road was extended to Rock Falls that ISTHA built an oasis in DeKalb.

To pay for the original oasis, Amoco (Standard) was allowed to charge 5 cents more per gallon for gas to recover their costs.

The portion west of Aurora to Rock Falls was originally authorized by the original toll highway act, but it wasn't built until the early 70s. I wonder had it been built from the onset, would the Downers Grove Oasis been built?

I'm surprised there is no information anywhere on the internet about the never built Downers Grove Oasis. Not even the fansite dedicated to the tollway oasis mentions it.

edwaleni

Quote from: I-39 on August 24, 2020, 01:29:13 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on August 24, 2020, 09:33:35 AM
Quote from: I-39 on August 19, 2020, 12:34:38 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on August 18, 2020, 10:33:47 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 29, 2018, 06:10:44 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 04:01:47 PM
Quote from: Joe The Dragon on June 25, 2018, 03:44:23 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on June 25, 2018, 09:25:29 AM
Tollway Oasis trivia.

The I-88 Reagan Tollway electronic toll collection zone in Downers Grove was land originally acquired to build yet another overhead oasis.

Why it never got built when IL-5 was built no one knows. The land sat empty for some 50 plus years until ISTHA demolished the Oak Brook collection zone and shifted it west.
the Oak Brook tolls where spilt up to make room for Hi speed tolling but it looks like there is only room for one side of an oasis in Downers Grove.
But what is need? on I-294 both ways you where not far from them.

I agree that there doesn't appear to be enough room if you look here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Downers+Grove,+IL/@41.8374883,-87.9978197,842m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e5174f031d539:0x1de1b9b6ac3938a!8m2!3d41.8089191!4d-88.0111746

Maybe they sold the land on the north side of the tollway?  If not, you'd have had to shift the roadway south in order to have room for parking lots on both sides, and that would be unusual.

Yes, there are oases on 294, but that wouldn't do you much good if you were traveling from Chicago to points west.

When I read about that years ago I thought the same thing.

Now mind you there were no developments around there in 1956, so they might have sold off one side in the late 60's or early 70's.

I will check some historical aerials and see what was there.

I guess I never got back to this.  ISTHA sold the north land for the Oasis on I-88 after 1985. The south land was absorbed as part of the cash-free tolling. They still own a large parcel of surrounding land on the south side of I-88. They bought the land when the road was built.  The utility easements date back to 1963. Aerials attribution: www.historicaerials.com. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 Nationwide Environmental Title Research, LLC.



That is super interesting, I never knew that. The Downers Grove Oasis that never was. I always wondered why they never put any Oases on the original portion of I-88.

I wonder why it was never built. Was there not enough traffic on the E/W Tollway when it first opened to justify it?

I can't find anything specific, but I can speculate that the land was sold sometime around the same time the I-355 project was about to ramp up. ISTHA had planned to move to a new massive HQ at the intersection of I-355 and I-88 and were already selling their old HQ land at I-88 and Midwest Road. My guess is that this was done as a package deal and ISTHA leased the old HQ until the new one was ready.

As to why it was never built, the original Oasis's were paid for by Amoco (Standard Oil of Indiana) as part of a 25 year concession to be the sole gasoline supplier.  With the then called IL-5 terminating in Sugar Grove and not being connected to the national Interstate network on both ends, I would assume Amoco declined to pay for it for lack of business potential. It wasn't until the road was extended to Rock Falls that ISTHA built an oasis in DeKalb.

To pay for the original oasis, Amoco (Standard) was allowed to charge 5 cents more per gallon for gas to recover their costs.

The portion west of Aurora to Rock Falls was originally authorized by the original toll highway act, but it wasn't built until the early 70s. I wonder had it been built from the onset, would the Downers Grove Oasis been built?

I'm surprised there is no information anywhere on the internet about the never built Downers Grove Oasis. Not even the fansite dedicated to the tollway oasis mentions it.

I will take a stab at it. The Hinsdale and O'Hare Oasis on I-294 were not that far away. Anyone going in those directions had adequate time to reach them. For people going into Chicago, most of them probably already had the fuel they needed since the road started back near Aurora.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.