Illinois Tollway Notes

[Joe The Dragon]

And likely only stay there or go to 60 because Chicago/Cook County

That didn't stop I-90 from going to 70 west of the Elmhurst Road

Well aware of that - they only put it in after the smart road system was added - still 60 east of Elmhurst and I still don't believe they'll push it up especially when IDOT is not bumping speeds on 290 nor is the tollway bumping 88 to 65 or 70 within 355 (it's 60 now).  The Chicago 6 is stubborn in this matter.  (Maybe except Will County )

I-294 should go to 70 from I-90 to I-55 after the rebuild

[kphoger]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

[ET21]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

Nope 

I have never gone the speed limit on the local highways. I have to go at least 70 mph in the city/burbs and 80 in the farmlands or else I'll get ran off the road by other drivers.

[JoePCool14]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

This is true. As the speed limit drops on 94 coming south from Wisconsin... no one moves a muscle.

[kphoger]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

This is true. As the speed limit drops on 94 coming south from Wisconsin... no one moves a muscle.

Heck, it's been my experience that the general speed of traffic increases roughly where the speed limit decreases when approaching Chicagoland from the south on I-55.

[I-39]

Do you think the I-90/I-290/IL-53 interchange revamp be brought back post Move Illinois, or is it dead in the water for good? Did the improvements on I-90 fix anything in regards to traffic in that area (pre-COVID)?

[JoePCool14]

Do you think the I-90/I-290/IL-53 interchange revamp be brought back post Move Illinois, or is it dead in the water for good? Did the improvements on I-90 fix anything in regards to traffic in that area (pre-COVID)?

From my perspective, no. The interchange is still at its core a cloverleaf. One of the worst problems is the ramp from 90 East to 53 North. Trying to merge into a constant line of cars exiting to 90 West from 53 North is incredibly dangerous.

[Joe The Dragon]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

This is true. As the speed limit drops on 94 coming south from Wisconsin... no one moves a muscle.

it drops to 65 at grand and then 60 at I-94 / I-294 but why when I-90 is 70 for a lot closer to the city.

They can do 65 at least till I-90 (maybe after Central Tri-State Tollway rebuild is done?)

[Joe The Dragon]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

I one did 88 MPH on I-88 just for the hell of it and back to the future.

Also did 90 MPH on I-90 for an few sec just to hit that.

[Joe The Dragon]

Do you think the I-90/I-290/IL-53 interchange revamp be brought back post Move Illinois, or is it dead in the water for good? Did the improvements on I-90 fix anything in regards to traffic in that area (pre-COVID)?

The state does not have the funds now maybe add an toll to the IL-59 on ramps and remove the tolls at the I-290 exit.

Not an lot room to add an flyover with out needing to demo buildings.

[quickshade]

Do you think the I-90/I-290/IL-53 interchange revamp be brought back post Move Illinois, or is it dead in the water for good? Did the improvements on I-90 fix anything in regards to traffic in that area (pre-COVID)?

The state does not have the funds now maybe add an toll to the IL-59 on ramps and remove the tolls at the I-290 exit.

Not an lot room to add an flyover with out needing to demo buildings.

The traffic on I90 was improved, you don't get stuck in traffic backups because of people exiting to 290/53 North. Also the merge onto 90 West from 53 South is much better, you don't have to stop and merge like before. Personally if they could widen the i90 East to 290 merge from 1 lane up to 2 lanes and add a flyover ramp from 290/53 North to 90 West the whole thing would be ok. I struggle to see how Illinois can allocate 45 Billion in transit improvements throughout the state and not earmark this as a major improvement. If anyone from Springfield had to merge onto 53 north from 90 East or from 290 to 90 West for a week at rush hour they would see how bad that interchange is and fund it.

[kphoger]

I one did 88 MPH on I-88 just for the hell of it and back to the future.

Also did 90 MPH on I-90 for an few sec just to hit that.

I had a roommate who was VERY frugal with his money.  That carried over to his driving:  driving in 5th gear at 35 mph in suburban traffic, coasting in neutral when the light a half-mile away turned red, etc.  He got excellent fuel economy!

But one day, he decided to see what his car was like at high speed.  So he took it up to 100 mph briefly.  On the Eisenhower.  East of Austin.  Then he dropped back down to a more reasonable speed and resumed being frugal.

[SSOWorld]

Belvidere, Lake Forest, DeKalb, and Lincoln will probably live on. O'Hare and Hinsdale might become only gas and the 7/11s

I could see Lincoln going away when a fifth lane is inevitably needed on I-80/294/94.

Also Lake Forest

To clarify on Lake Forest - it's already to a point where the shoulder is compromised by the width of the tunnel underneath.

[Crash_It]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

Nope 

I have never gone the speed limit on the local highways. I have to go at least 70 mph in the city/burbs and 80 in the farmlands or else I'll get ran off the road by other drivers.

But now you run the risk of being pulled over doing that. And yes, there are cops that will do it like with what happened to me for example

[NWI_Irish96]

It's never been my experience that the speed Chicagoland drivers go on the expressway has any relation to the number on the sign.

Nope 

I have never gone the speed limit on the local highways. I have to go at least 70 mph in the city/burbs and 80 in the farmlands or else I'll get ran off the road by other drivers.

But now you run the risk of being pulled over doing that. And yes, there are cops that will do it like with what happened to me for example

The odds of getting pulled over on 80/94/294 with moderate traffic is very low, as most of the cars are speeding. I will take that very low chance of getting a ticket over the increased chance of an accident by going the speed limit.

[I-39]

Belvidere, Lake Forest, DeKalb, and Lincoln will probably live on. O'Hare and Hinsdale might become only gas and the 7/11s

I could see Lincoln going away when a fifth lane is inevitably needed on I-80/294/94.

Also Lake Forest

To clarify on Lake Forest - it's already to a point where the shoulder is compromised by the width of the tunnel underneath.

That's how they all are on the Tri-State. They didn't bother to rebuild/lengthen the bridge decks when they rebuilt the Oasis's so they ended up having to squeeze 4 lanes under the existing bridge deck.

[GeekJedi]

I was on the Tri-State from the WI state line south to I-90, then I-90 west to 290, and I can confirm that all references to cash tolls have been removed and replaced with I-Pass signs. Also, when entering the Tri-State from WI, there is a new sign that details I-Pass or pay online.

It's pretty much a given at this point that manned booths will not be back. They've been trying to find a way to eliminate them for some time without causing a backlash, and COVID has done it for them.

[ET21]

I was on the Tri-State from the WI state line south to I-90, then I-90 west to 290, and I can confirm that all references to cash tolls have been removed and replaced with I-Pass signs. Also, when entering the Tri-State from WI, there is a new sign that details I-Pass or pay online.

It's pretty much a given at this point that manned booths will not be back. They've been trying to find a way to eliminate them for some time without causing a backlash, and COVID has done it for them.

Yeah I've noticed more signs getting replaced as well on the southern section of 294 and 88

[I-39]

I was on the Tri-State from the WI state line south to I-90, then I-90 west to 290, and I can confirm that all references to cash tolls have been removed and replaced with I-Pass signs. Also, when entering the Tri-State from WI, there is a new sign that details I-Pass or pay online.

It's pretty much a given at this point that manned booths will not be back. They've been trying to find a way to eliminate them for some time without causing a backlash, and COVID has done it for them.

Yeah I've noticed more signs getting replaced as well on the southern section of 294 and 88

So when will they start tearing down the booths?

[Great Lakes Roads]

I was on the Tri-State from the WI state line south to I-90, then I-90 west to 290, and I can confirm that all references to cash tolls have been removed and replaced with I-Pass signs. Also, when entering the Tri-State from WI, there is a new sign that details I-Pass or pay online.

It's pretty much a given at this point that manned booths will not be back. They've been trying to find a way to eliminate them for some time without causing a backlash, and COVID has done it for them.

Yeah I've noticed more signs getting replaced as well on the southern section of 294 and 88

So when will they start tearing down the booths?

I could see some toll booths get another ORT lane on the mainline:

• I-294 (163rd Street)
• I-294 (Cermark Road)
• I-294 (Irving Park (SB), Touhy Avenue (NB))
• I-94 (Waukegan)
• I-90 (Elgin)
• I-355 (Boughton Road)
• I-355 (Army Trail Road)

[lstone19]

What would be the point of more ORT lanes? At least as initially announced, the number of ORT lanes is the same as the number of travel lanes. Adding more won't increase capacity due to the number of lanes before and/or after the toll gantry.


iPhone

[Great Lakes Roads]

What would be the point of more ORT lanes? At least as initially announced, the number of ORT lanes is the same as the number of travel lanes. Adding more won't increase capacity due to the number of lanes before and/or after the toll gantry.


iPhone

Well, some of them have three lanes each way through the ORT whereas outside of the toll plazas would be four lanes each way like at the Elgin and Waukegan Toll Plazas for example, and that was done before the major widening projects that occurred over the years.

[lstone19]

What would be the point of more ORT lanes? At least as initially announced, the number of ORT lanes is the same as the number of travel lanes. Adding more won't increase capacity due to the number of lanes before and/or after the toll gantry.


iPhone

Well, some of them have three lanes each way through the ORT whereas outside of the toll plazas would be four lanes each way like at the Elgin and Waukegan Toll Plazas for example, and that was done before the major widening projects that occurred over the years.

I-90 is only three lanes west of the Elgin plaza. Haven't been through Waukegan in years.


iPhone

[Revive 755]

I-90 is only three lanes west of the Elgin plaza. Haven't been through Waukegan in years.

There are four lanes each way on I-90 between Randall Road and the Elgin Toll Plaza:  Three throughs plus one auxiliary lane.  Some long range transportation plans have I-90 eventually going to four through lanes west of Randall.

[lstone19]

I-90 is only three lanes west of the Elgin plaza. Haven't been through Waukegan in years.

There are four lanes each way on I-90 between Randall Road and the Elgin Toll Plaza:  Three throughs plus one auxiliary lane.  Some long range transportation plans have I-90 eventually going to four through lanes west of Randall.

I forgot about that auxiliary lane. As I never exit at Randall Rd., I'm only paying attention to the through travel lanes.

If the number of ORT lanes hasn't kept up with the number of travel lanes outside the plaza, then bad on the Tollway for not widening the road the entire way. The last thing they need is for the toll plazas to become choke points.