Illinois may increase speed limit 70

[Stratuscaster]

Kudos to Will County.

[bahnburner]

Here's an update on the Chicago metro area.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/03/12/speed-limit-could-go-to-60-on-tri-state-reagan-and-veterans-tollways/

Speed Limit Could Go To 60 On Tri-State, Reagan, And Veterans Tollways

CHICAGO (CBS) — An Illinois State Toll Highway Authority committee has recommended increasing speed limits on parts of three tollways.
Illinois Tollway executive director Kristi Lafleur said, after several years of study by the agency's expert traffic safety engineers, officials can safely raise the speed limit from 55 to 60 mph on parts of the Tri-State, Reagan Memorial, and Veterans Memorial tollways.
If it's true a driver is unlikely to get a speeding ticket if he or she is not going more than 10 mph over the posted speed limit, as state troopers have said, speeds could be closer to 70 mph on parts of the Tollway system where the speed limit now is 55.
The increase needs approval from the Tollway's board of directors and the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Some parts of the Jane Addams Memorial and Reagan Memorial tollways outside of the Chicago area already have speed limits of 70 mph, and would not be affected by this move.

They were already authorized for speeds up to 70 mph back in December, my last update in this thread. They do not want to go all the way to 70 and want to keep some segments unchanged.

[Revive 755]

^ Very disappointing that they won't even raise it up to 65.  Do they really want the Illinois Legislature to write the law so it specifically says the speed limit on the roads known as the Tri-State Tollway, Regan Tollway, and Veterans Memorial Tollway is 70?

(Of course if the Illinois Legislature did it spell out the roadway names, the Toll Authority would probably try to rename them so they could keep the speed limits down).

EDIT:  Found the official press release from the Tollway.  Link

The included maps shows no increase to 70 for I-90 from I-39 to around Randall Road.

[dave069]

I'm surprised they're increasing anything at all. But 70mph for cars starts at IL-47 not the Kane/Dekalb County line that needs to be corrected in the press release. I don't see why they weren't studying I-90 between Elgin and Rockford in this time too they finished the widening there before 2015.

[SSOWorld]

Doesn't surprise me at all that they're using said loopholes - disgusting corruption

[ET21]

I'm surprised they're increasing anything at all. But 70mph for cars starts at IL-47 not the Kane/Dekalb County line that needs to be corrected in the press release. I don't see why they weren't studying I-90 between Elgin and Rockford in this time too they finished the widening there before 2015.

Should honestly be Orchard Road as the dividing line for 55/70 mph on I-88, even though no one adheres to it anyways

[I-39]

For Pete's sake, just raise all the tollways to 70 mph already! 

[SSOWorld]

For Pete's sake, just raise all the tollways to 70 mph already! 

Welcome to Chicago man, You'll never hear the end of it.

I hear Minneapolis is better

[dave069]

Minneapolis has more 60-65 roads then Chicago. Honestly 70mph on the Illinois Tollway wouldn't be a problem even in the suburbs. I was on I-88 this Sunday and everyone was doing about 70-75.

[bahnburner]

Good to see both sides of the debate in the media. I bolded the pro-70 side (aka our side lol).

edit - be sure to read the comments on the article!

https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150323/news/150329643/?fb_action_ids=692243107565485&fb_action_types=og.comments

Oberweis, tollway showdown emerging over 70 mph

New speed limits of 60 to 65 mph on toll roads proposed by agency officials have steamed state Sen. Jim Oberweis, sponsor of a 2014 law setting a 70 mph limit, and point to a showdown in Springfield.

This Thursday, Illinois tollway directors will discuss suggested changes for the Tri-State (I-294/I-94), the Reagan Memorial (I-88) and Veterans Memorial (I-355) tollways. The recommendations made by a tollway committee offer a range of speeds from the current 55 mph to 60 mph and 65 mph.

Oberweis thinks his law trumps the agency's claims that it has the legal right to set speeds, and he wants to call them on the carpet.

Ignoring the 70 mph policy is a "blatant disregard of the will of the people and a misapplication of an overwhelmingly supported law that is passed," said Oberweis, a Sugar Grove Republican.

"The safety of Tollway customers is our highest priority," spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said.

Tollway leaders contend traffic engineers prioritized safety and used crash rates, road design and how drivers interact with exits and entrances to develop the new standards.

"We looked at travel patterns and the speeds people drive at and the common speed and the differential," Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said. "That data is all taken into account as we set the speeds."

"It may look like patchwork on a map, but when you're driving (these are) logical transition points," said Jeff Hochmuth, a traffic engineer with tollway consultant CDM Smith.

Oberweis intends to ask the Senate's Transportation Committee chairman to hold a hearing in Springfield where tollway officials can explain their actions.

"The law makes it very clear, the speed is 70 mph on all tollways unless they do a legitimate study indicating 70 mph is not safe," he said.

Tollway leaders countered that the Illinois Vehicle Code empowers the tollway to raise its maximum speed limits after engineering and traffic investigations.

"If a safe and reasonable increase in the speed limit is warranted," the tollway then obtains approvals from IDOT, the tollway board of directors and a state commission on administrative rules, Abrams said.

Oberweis disagreed. He cited a widely used standard of setting speeds by calculating what 85 percent of drivers are traveling at under good conditions. That would place average toll road speeds at around 72 to 73, he said.

Tollway officials countered that the "85th percentile is the starting point when determining speed limits."

CDM Smith reviewed the policies of 18 states for which speed limit-setting procedures are publicly available and could not find a single state that used the 85th percentile speed independent of any other factors, Abrams said.

Wheaton resident Steve Doner, a National Motorists Association member, thinks the tollway did not use speed-calculating software from the U.S. Department of Transportation properly.

If the agency's new limits are put in place, the results will be speed traps and dangerous conditions for those who follow the posted limits, such as student drivers, he warned.

"The tollway's recommendation of 55 mph to 60 mph limits for most of the urban tollways does not stand up to independent analysis and scrutiny," Doner said.

You should know

Here are the proposed changes:

- On the Tri-State: increase speed from 55 mph to 60 mph between I-57 and I-55; increase speed from 55 mph to 60 mph between Touhy and Deerfield Road; increase speed for cars and buses from 55 mph to 65 mph between Deerfield and Stearns School Road near Gurnee Mills.

The rationale was based on a high northbound crash rate approaching Grand Avenue of 1.27 crashes per million vehicle miles traveled compared to a statewide average of .90, Abrams said.

- On I-88: increase speed from 55 mph to 60 mph from the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) to Route 31; increase speed from 55 mph to 65 mph between Route 31 and Orchard Road; increase speed from 55 mph to 65 mph between Orchard and the Kane/DeKalb County line.

Abrams noted on I-88 from Route 31 to Route 47 in Kane County, the worst section has a crash rate of 1.70 crashes per million vehicle miles traveled.

The statewide rural interstate rate is .43.

- On I-355: increase speed from 55 mph to 60 mph between I-55 and Army Trail Road.

A center section of the Tri-State between Touhy and I-55 would stay at 55 mph, under the plan. So would the Edens Spur, which has a high crash rate of 2.07 crashes per million vehicle miles, Abrams said.

Currently, speeds on most toll roads in the six-county region are 55 mph, although 65 mph is legal in a few less-populated areas.

[Joe The Dragon]

Central Tri-State Tollway needs to be at least 60-65 if not 70.

also Deerfield till WI state line at least 70 (likely waiting for WI to go 70)

Now a full 70 also drives the way for a REAL 55 work zone speed limit that people are more like to comply with as well. And if the roads do go to 60-65-70 then no 45 work zones.

[SSOWorld]

45 mph work zones are universal in IL.

[Brandon]

45 mph work zones are universal in IL.

And universally ignored.

[jeffandnicole]

45 mph work zones are universal in IL.

And universally ignored.

They are in most states. Thus the reason for all the double fine and safety zone laws throughout the US.

[Brandon]

45 mph work zones are universal in IL.

And universally ignored.

They are in most states. Thus the reason for all the double fine and safety zone laws throughout the US.

However, in Illinois they are in effect 24/7, regardless of whether work is going on or not.  This sort of crap causes serious resentment and causes people to just ignore the limit.  A smarter system, and one that seems to actually be obeyed better is what Michigan uses.  Michigan lowers speeds from 70 to 60 in the zone, but 45 only where and when workers are present and not separated from traffic by a concrete barrier (i.e. cones/barrels only).  Illinois uses 45 24/7 even when there is a barrier.

[Joe The Dragon]

45 mph work zones are universal in IL.

And universally ignored.

They are in most states. Thus the reason for all the double fine and safety zone laws throughout the US.

However, in Illinois they are in effect 24/7, regardless of whether work is going on or not.  This sort of crap causes serious resentment and causes people to just ignore the limit.  A smarter system, and one that seems to actually be obeyed better is what Michigan uses.  Michigan lowers speeds from 70 to 60 in the zone, but 45 only where and when workers are present and not separated from traffic by a concrete barrier (i.e. cones/barrels only).  Illinois uses 45 24/7 even when there is a barrier.

there are some 55 work zones also parts of the I-90 work zone has rock a boat mix of 45 and 55 work zones.

[jeffandnicole]

45 mph work zones are universal in IL.

And universally ignored.

They are in most states. Thus the reason for all the double fine and safety zone laws throughout the US.

However, in Illinois they are in effect 24/7, regardless of whether work is going on or not.  This sort of crap causes serious resentment and causes people to just ignore the limit.  A smarter system, and one that seems to actually be obeyed better is what Michigan uses.  Michigan lowers speeds from 70 to 60 in the zone, but 45 only where and when workers are present and not separated from traffic by a concrete barrier (i.e. cones/barrels only).  Illinois uses 45 24/7 even when there is a barrier.

I know you hate everything about Illinois, but it's not just Illinois.  NJ and Delaware for example have similar speed limit and 24/7 restrictions.

[bahnburner]

I should probably post the map of the proposed changes. All the non-70 stretches have been posted at 55 mph since the 1974 national double nickel.

For cars and buses.


For trucks.


Here was one of our opposing articles:

"Traffic Safety Activists Say Tollway Suppressing Speed Limits"
http://theexpiredmeter.com/2015/03/traffic-safety-activists-say-tollway-suppressing-speed-limits/

[kphoger]

Doesn't matter to me. I go 77 to 78 on them already anyway. I had a roommate who took his stock Jetta up to 100 on the Eisenhower east of Harlem, just because.

[Brandon]

Doesn't matter to me. I go 77 to 78 on them already anyway. I had a roommate who took his stock Jetta up to 100 on the Eisenhower east of Harlem, just because.

They don't pull over anyone for 70 or less anyway.  A cop got his lesson once in Cook County when he went to court to face some tickets he issued to motorists going less than 70 miles per hour.  The judge asked everyone who got a ticket for 70 or less to stand up.  The judge promptly dismissed the tickets en masse, leaving the cop stunned.

As it is, I've been driving along the tollways at 70-72, minding my own business and get my doors (all four) blown off by a state trooper going 80+ who never even so much as batted an eye in my direction.

[kkt]

They don't pull over anyone for 70 or less anyway.  A cop got his lesson once in Cook County when he went to court to face some tickets he issued to motorists going less than 70 miles per hour.  The judge asked everyone who got a ticket for 70 or less to stand up.  The judge promptly dismissed the tickets en masse, leaving the cop stunned.

Man, where was that judge when I got my one-and-only speeding ticket?  For 65 inna 60, on the I-5 express lanes in Seattle, at 7:30 AM on a sunny weekend morning?

[kphoger]

Probably Chicago.

[bahnburner]

Doesn't matter to me. I go 77 to 78 on them already anyway. I had a roommate who took his stock Jetta up to 100 on the Eisenhower east of Harlem, just because.

They don't pull over anyone for 70 or less anyway.  A cop got his lesson once in Cook County when he went to court to face some tickets he issued to motorists going less than 70 miles per hour.  The judge asked everyone who got a ticket for 70 or less to stand up.  The judge promptly dismissed the tickets en masse, leaving the cop stunned.

As it is, I've been driving along the tollways at 70-72, minding my own business and get my doors (all four) blown off by a state trooper going 80+ who never even so much as batted an eye in my direction.

Yeah, the de-facto speed limit to actually get pulled over on metro Chicago tollways seems to be around 80 mph.

One trooper told of traffic court judges who asked everyone to stand if they were ticketed for 70 mph or less – then dismissed them all. At that point, the officer said, "my tolerance level turned to 80."

Said another: "I didn't even pay attention to a car unless they were in the upper 70s."

source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-17/opinion/ct-enforce-speed-limits-edit-1217-jm-20131217_1_speed-limit-70-mph-state-troopers

Chicago Tribune analysis of speeding citations:



source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-drivers-speeding-on-the-illinois-tollway-map-20140827-htmlstory.html

And check out these two clips of someone pacing state police southbound on I-294 (posted 55 mph) during their commute.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=231930260315682&set=vb.198812230294152&type=2&theater

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=446701128838593&set=vb.198812230294152&type=2&theater

[bahnburner]

Update from today. Sun Times covered it well...

Tollway Board OKs higher speed limits; not high enough for Oberweis
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/473031/tollway-board-increase-speed-limits

[johndoe780]

Update from today. Sun Times covered it well...

Tollway Board OKs higher speed limits; not high enough for Oberweis
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/473031/tollway-board-increase-speed-limits

I don't agree with Oberweis on everything, but I agree with him 100% here. No one goes 60 mph on these toll roads.