IL-53 Richmond extension (FAP 420)

[Revive 755]

^ Does not appear to be ROW per the Lake County GIS map.  On map, the boundary lines along US 12 just south of Brandenburg Road do seem to resemble the outline of a cloverleaf, along with  a few other parcels that IDOT owns in a disconnected corridor.



From the McHenry County GIS maps, it appears IDOT had gotten more ROW for the corridor to Richmond in McHenry County.

[midwesternroadguy]

In looking at both the Richmond Bypass project and the IL-53/IL-120 Project, there's a big chunk missing between Volo and Richmond that isn't really addressed by either.

The Richmond Bypass ends around US-12 and Solon Rd in SE Richmond. The IL-120 Project would end near Fish Lake Rd, east of US-12/IL-59 in Volo.

There's about 12-13 miles of US-12 running through the Chain O' Lakes area between those two points.

From the IL-120 proposed bypass end point near Fish Lake Road, I believe FAP 420 would continue almost due west across US 12, across the Fox River, and just past Rte 31 in McHenry.  From there, the road would somewhat follow the Rte 31 path north to Richmond.

If you look on Google Maps, you can see vacant ROW land from the Fox River to just west of Rte 31 in McHenry.  I have no idea how much ROW exists east of the Fox River up to the proposed end of the Rte 120 bypass.

In the image https://goo.gl/maps/DUw6C there appears to me to be clear ROW along the south edge of that subdivision that is just east of US 12 and south of Sullivan Lake Rd.  It could also then continue west-northwestward to cross the Volo Marsh area along Sullivan Lake Rd with the least wetland impacts and any such impacts should be mitigatable.  At that point, it would be pointing directly towards the clear ROW for the McHenry bypass.

Mike

Actually, depending on where you're talking about along Sullivan Lake Road, and within the Volo Bog, wetland impacts may not be "mitigatable".  The Volo Bog is one of only two or three tamarack bogs in Illinois.  It is a State Natural Area and an extremely rare resource.  Impacts to the bog's periphery could reduce water quality, or impact coldwater source areas that sustain the bog, and justifiably the project would not receive an easy environmental review. 

As much as I would like to see a 4-lane corridor extended to US 12 at Genoa City and ultimately to I-39/90 near Madison someday, the corridor routing north of Route 120 presents some challenges on several levels. 

[Stratuscaster]

So...in the interest of wetland mitigation...what about ideas going WEST of Richmond?

Let's say they are able to get something with IL-120 pushed through/around McHenry with little trouble. And then let's also say that the Prairie Parkway gets resurrected.

I'm thinking something from Genoa City, WI southwest, crossing IL-47 south of Hebron, and then heading south past Hampshire and down to meet I-88 northeast of Kaneland. Then use the "B5" routing of the Prairie Parkway down to I-80.

And since we're dreaming, go from there to where the Illiana Tollway would start, and on to I-65.

Sign it as I-43, and make the section from Janesville to Elkhorn I-143 or extend WI-81 on it.

[dietermoreno]

It looks like the only alternatives remaining for the Richmond bypass end at IL 173, with Rt 12 continuing to intersect with Rt 173 at the existing intersection, due to environmentalist opposition from bird habbitats on FAP 420 north of IL 173 for a FAP 420 bypass and state owned nature preserve land for a far east bypass.

It looks like the Keystone Rd alternative will likely not be considered due to residential property aquisitions required.

It looks like the far east bypass alternative near Solon Mills will likely not be considered due to business opposition from traffic being able to completely bypass Richmond (actually a half bypass) rather than visiting the establishments downtown.

It looks like an alternative connecting FAP 420 to Tyron Grove Road is the only alternative remaining likely to be considered, due to: process of elimination, traffic still has to stop at the intersection of Tyron Grove Rd - IL 31 - US 12 where development can occur, traffic can easily choose to turn north on Main St (existing US 12) at the stop light rather than use the bypass, and parcels to the west of existing US 12 are larger than parcels to the east of existing US 12 allowing more development.

All original alternatives: http://www.richmondbypass.com/uploads/Exhibits/070421-constraints_020909_aerials_sm.pdf

Remaining alternatives: http://www.richmondbypass.com/uploads/Exhibits/PublicMeeting2/Exhibit%2012_Alternatives%20to%20Be%20Carried%20Forward.pdf

Reasoning on which alternatives that haven't yet been eliminated should be eliminated : http://www.richmondbypass.com/uploads/Minutes/TAG4/min-011513-TAG-DCJ.pdf


I think the McHenry bypass should not be built until the Richmond bypass is built, because induced demand from the McHenry bypass being built would make weekend traffic going through Richmond on Rt 12 even worse.


One of the comments in the meeting minutes did seem to recommend a Super-2 to reduce costs.

Originally, the website said that the road is recommended to be built as a 4 lane freeway from Wisconsin until transitioning to a 4 lane parkway south of Nippersink creek.   Then transitioning to an arterial as the intersection of IL 31 and Tyron Grove Rd is reached.

It appears that an interchange, roundabout, or traditional traffic light is being considered at the intersection of IL 31 and Tyron Grove Rd.
http://www.richmondbypass.com/aboutproject/projectdesc.aspx





The intersection of IL Rt 31 and IL Rt 120 is now the most congested intersection in McHenry county with the IL Rt 32 and IL Rt 62 intersection no longer being the most congested intersection with the construction of the Western Algonquin Bypass. A bypass of McHenry continues to appear in documents planning for a Metra station at Prairie Grove, that include an interchange with the existing IL Rt 31 alignment and the proposed west McHenry bypass alignment to the north of Gracy Road.[6https://www.prairiegrove.org/documents/TownCenterandTODPlanFINAL06-15-10.pdf]

The west McHenry bypass was originally planned to travel over undeveloped farm lands from north of IL 31 and Gracy Road to IL 120 and Ringwood Road. The corridor was planned to be protected from development in the mid 1990s, but due to lack of funding the corridor was never protected from development. [7http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-08-08/news/9508080285_1_bypass-congestion-algonquin-road ]

Unfortunately, the corridor has since been developed on. [8https://www.google.com/maps/place/US-12,+Richmond,+IL/@42.3261109,-88.3000768,2508m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x532d51bd11daa02f:0x846740bd8224416c]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Route_31

(I wrote the future section in the Wikipedia article.)


So, it looks like the McHenry bypass might never happen, unless there isn't too much community opposition from buying land through the middle of new subdivisions, which is actually what ended up happening with the Milburn bypass of US Rt 45.

The alternative that required buying land through the middle of new subdivisions actually was chosen over building on a farm field for the Milburn bypass.
http://www.route45project.com/pdf/US45MillburnBypassPreferredAlternativeStatement.pdf

The Milburn bypass has received a federal approval to move on to Phase II.
http://www.route45project.com/

[Quimby]

^ Does not appear to be ROW per the Lake County GIS map.  On map, the boundary lines along US 12 just south of Brandenburg Road do seem to resemble the outline of a cloverleaf, along with  a few other parcels that IDOT owns in a disconnected corridor.



From the McHenry County GIS maps, it appears IDOT had gotten more ROW for the corridor to Richmond in McHenry County.

Great links!  Thanks for sharing.  Very interesting to see which parcels are owned by IDOT.   If the project were truly cancelled, these parcels would have been sold is my guess.

Once Rte 53/120 gets built, then I can see this project getting more attention.  Right now, the focus is 53 traffic dumping out onto Lake Cook Rd and the continuing growth of central Lake County.  If they extend 53/120, then there will be issues with the tollway ending and dumping out traffic at its western terminus in the Volo area plus ongoing population growth in McHenry.

Building the freeway/tollway along the entire corridor from I-80 to Wisconsin seems to take about 15-20 years per segment. 
- Dundee Rd to Army Trail Rd:  completed around 1970
- Army Trail to I-55 plus Dundee to Lake Cook:  nearly 20 years later (1989)
- I-55 to I-80:  17 years later (2007)

By the time Rte 53/120 to I-94 and the Volo area opens (IF it ever gets built), perhaps another 15 years will have passed.  At that rate, maybe we'll see the final link from Volo to Genoa City built around 2035 or 2040.  About 70 years after the first segment opened by Schaumburg...an entire lifetime!

[Quimby]

Actually, depending on where you're talking about along Sullivan Lake Road, and within the Volo Bog, wetland impacts may not be "mitigatable".  The Volo Bog is one of only two or three tamarack bogs in Illinois.  It is a State Natural Area and an extremely rare resource.  Impacts to the bog's periphery could reduce water quality, or impact coldwater source areas that sustain the bog, and justifiably the project would not receive an easy environmental review. 

As much as I would like to see a 4-lane corridor extended to US 12 at Genoa City and ultimately to I-39/90 near Madison someday, the corridor routing north of Route 120 presents some challenges on several levels.

I agree.  I would love to see this corridor built from Lake Cook all the way to US 12 in Genoa City, but not at the expense of rare resources like Volo Bog.  From the Lake Co GIS map link above, it looks like the original ROW would have sent the highway right through the middle of Volo Bog.  That obviously is not going to happen - nor should it happen.  Hopefully there is a viable alternative that will bypass to the north or south of this nature area and avoid damage to it.

The FAP 420 corridor also has potential issues at Glacial State Park, but at least there appears to be undeveloped land in that area where a highway could be built without cutting through the park. 

Then, of course, there's the issue with the Nippersink Creek area north of Rte 173 up to the existing freeway in Wisconsin that has been discussed on this forum.  Perhaps there are ways to mitigate impacts in that area or to bypass it while maintaining a continuous limited access roadway.  The proposed 53/120 extension is supposed to include a number of efforts to mitigate impact on wetlands.  If that's ever built, maybe some of the practices from that road could be applied to areas along FAP 420. 

[mgk920]

Actually, depending on where you're talking about along Sullivan Lake Road, and within the Volo Bog, wetland impacts may not be "mitigatable".  The Volo Bog is one of only two or three tamarack bogs in Illinois.  It is a State Natural Area and an extremely rare resource.  Impacts to the bog's periphery could reduce water quality, or impact coldwater source areas that sustain the bog, and justifiably the project would not receive an easy environmental review. 

As much as I would like to see a 4-lane corridor extended to US 12 at Genoa City and ultimately to I-39/90 near Madison someday, the corridor routing north of Route 120 presents some challenges on several levels.

I agree.  I would love to see this corridor built from Lake Cook all the way to US 12 in Genoa City, but not at the expense of rare resources like Volo Bog.  From the Lake Co GIS map link above, it looks like the original ROW would have send the highway right through the middle of Volo Bog.  That obviously is not going to happen - nor should it happen.  Hopefully there is a viable alternative that will bypass to the north or south of this nature area and avoid damage to it.

The FAP 420 corridor also has potential issues at Glacial State Park, but at least there appears to be undeveloped land in that area where a highway could be built without cutting through the park. 

Then, of course, there's the issue with the Nippersink Creek area north of Rte 173 up to the existing freeway in Wisconsin that has been discussed on this forum.  Perhaps there are ways to mitigate impacts in that area or to bypass it while maintaining a continuous limited access roadway.  The proposed 53/120 extension is supposed to include a number of efforts to mitigate impact on wetlands.  If that's ever built, maybe some of the practices from that road could be applied to areas along FAP 420.

I forget which forvm I posted this musing in, but I'm curious about whether or not something on the lines of the Yahara Marsh bridge on the Madison, WI Beltline could work both there and in the Volo area.

Mike

[I-90]

may funding? I-90 was build as toll and this free? now to built it Needs to be toll to pay for it.

Doesn't ether taking fap 420 (to us 12 freeway soon to whitewater and Madison) or I-90/I-39 depend on where in Wisconsin you are going? Otherwise I agree with that