Illiana Corridor progress

[silverback1065]

As might have been expected, a federal lawsuit was filed last week by a coalition of environmental groups to stop the Illiana Tollway.

News article link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-illiana-lawsuit-st-0528-20150527-story.html

A very small group of very vocal twits, most of whom don't even hail from Will County.  Sounds like the crap they pulled on the I-355 extension, and I hope it ends the same way for them.

These environmentalists fail to see that the environment will get better if less cars are stuck in traffic and idling and therefore better air for their lungs. The do nothing approach is almost always the worst one. Also economically it helps everyone with less hrs lost for productivity. Ugh I hate it when people like this lose their collective shit for no valid reason.

[3467]

http://capitolfax.com/2015/06/02/rauner-announces-budget-react/

[SSOWorld]

I think it's time we change the name of the topic

[Brandon]

All I have to say is...

FUCK RAUNER!

[I-39]

As might have been expected, a federal lawsuit was filed last week by a coalition of environmental groups to stop the Illiana Tollway.

News article link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-illiana-lawsuit-st-0528-20150527-story.html

A very small group of very vocal twits, most of whom don't even hail from Will County.  Sounds like the crap they pulled on the I-355 extension, and I hope it ends the same way for them.

And the same people who are holding up the Route 53 extension and are whining even after the Tollway pandered to them by watering it down to a four lane parkway.

[Henry]

Here we go again...

As might have been expected, a federal lawsuit was filed last week by a coalition of environmental groups to stop the Illiana Tollway.

News article link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-illiana-lawsuit-st-0528-20150527-story.html

A very small group of very vocal twits, most of whom don't even hail from Will County.  Sounds like the crap they pulled on the I-355 extension, and I hope it ends the same way for them.

And the same people who are holding up the Route 53 extension and are whining even after the Tollway pandered to them by watering it down to a four lane parkway.

It's not like they're trying to plow the thing through some massive city park...oh wait, that's Baltimore.

[silverback1065]

Here we go again...

As might have been expected, a federal lawsuit was filed last week by a coalition of environmental groups to stop the Illiana Tollway.

News article link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-illiana-lawsuit-st-0528-20150527-story.html

A very small group of very vocal twits, most of whom don't even hail from Will County.  Sounds like the crap they pulled on the I-355 extension, and I hope it ends the same way for them.

And the same people who are holding up the Route 53 extension and are whining even after the Tollway pandered to them by watering it down to a four lane parkway.

It's not like they're trying to plow the thing through some massive city park...oh wait, that's Baltimore.

These people must love constant gridlock and smog.

[hobsini2]

All I have to say is...

FUCK RAUNER!

Brandon, just curious. Did you vote for him? I did not because he felt way to slimy for my liking. Not that Quinn would have been much better.

[US 41]

All I have to say is...

FUCK RAUNER!

Brandon, just curious. Did you vote for him? I did not because he felt way to slimy for my liking. Not that Quinn would have been much better.

How can you hate the guy? Illinois is finally going to have a balanced budget and they did it without raising taxes. Put this guy in Washington. We need more politicians like Rauner. He's done a great job as governor so far and if I lived in Illinois I would vote for him whenever he is running for reelection.

[I-39]

All I have to say is...

FUCK RAUNER!

Brandon, just curious. Did you vote for him? I did not because he felt way to slimy for my liking. Not that Quinn would have been much better.

How can you hate the guy? Illinois is finally going to have a balanced budget and they did it without raising taxes. Put this guy in Washington. We need more politicians like Rauner. He's done a great job as governor so far and if I lived in Illinois I would vote for him whenever he is running for reelection.

As long as Gov.........um.......... Speaker Mike Madigan and the Cook County Democratic Party are still running this state, there will never be a truly balanced budget. Not to sound political or partisan, but Republicans have virtually no chance of ever taking control of the state legislature again, so get used to Chicago Democrats running this state.

Anyway, I think 3467 said it best earlier, it's not necessarily needed right now, but the corridor should be protected for future construction. I think I-80 and I-55 should be rebuilt/widened first and see how that goes before constructing the Illiana. Also, I would change the plans to include a connector between I-80 and I-55 (which is not in the current plans).

[SSOWorld]

Good luck building those getting those 2-lane substandard bridges I-55 crosses the Des Plaines River replaced.

[hobsini2]

All I have to say is...

FUCK RAUNER!

Brandon, just curious. Did you vote for him? I did not because he felt way to slimy for my liking. Not that Quinn would have been much better.

How can you hate the guy? Illinois is finally going to have a balanced budget and they did it without raising taxes. Put this guy in Washington. We need more politicians like Rauner. He's done a great job as governor so far and if I lived in Illinois I would vote for him whenever he is running for reelection.

I'm going to not reply to this out of respect.

[hobsini2]

Good luck building those getting those 2-lane substandard bridges I-55 crosses the Des Plaines River replaced.

And they just did a bridge decking and repaving on them.

I wish they did tear down those bridges and widen them and the ones over the Kankakee River too.

[johndoe780]

All I have to say is...

FUCK RAUNER!

Brandon, just curious. Did you vote for him? I did not because he felt way to slimy for my liking. Not that Quinn would have been much better.

How can you hate the guy? Illinois is finally going to have a balanced budget and they did it without raising taxes. Put this guy in Washington. We need more politicians like Rauner. He's done a great job as governor so far and if I lived in Illinois I would vote for him whenever he is running for reelection.

As long as Gov.........um.......... Speaker Mike Madigan and the Cook County Democratic Party are still running this state, there will never be a truly balanced budget. Not to sound political or partisan, but Republicans have virtually no chance of ever taking control of the state legislature again, so get used to Chicago Democrats running this state.

Anyway, I think 3467 said it best earlier, it's not necessarily needed right now, but the corridor should be protected for future construction. I think I-80 and I-55 should be rebuilt/widened first and see how that goes before constructing the Illiana. Also, I would change the plans to include a connector between I-80 and I-55 (which is not in the current plans).

And thank God Madigan's in his 70s'. In a short while, he'll get a ruptured aneurysm, or a stroke, or a heart attack.

[3467]

I-39 has me right ....Madigan though looks in good health at 71 pretty comparable to my mother and aunt for that matter . If that's an indication he has 20 -30- years left -15 to 20 in good enough shape to keep ruling .He aint going anywhere unless the feds can get him and they have been trying for years As to Rauner ....well Hobsini said it very well . I do predict we will have MJM long after Rauner is gone
BTW A point of fact How did Rauner make his fortune? State Government . His PE fund GCTR got most of its capital from the TRS

[3467]

Back to I-39s point . We might have had the Foxway if the ROW had been protected but even if it wasn't a lot of NIMBY there was just so much development .... The mini Crosstown is still possible because there is still the railroad ROW.
The sad news about the Illiana is Rauner appears to have just plain killed it. He pulled every cent and unlike some of the other things on the list he really has full authority to do that . I suspect Indiana will follow and this one will be harder to revive than the Prairie Parkway  which has the whole Hastert back story.  Rauner is also planning on dumping the Tollway board too . That could wipe out a lot of the innovative ideas they have had. Once again he has full authority to do this . One thing  I did learn at the open is that members of the GA are getting more skeptical of IDOT and all the administrations on their road priorities. There was a thinly veiled hint that they had better stop pissing off the GA or expect earmarks

[Brandon]

All I have to say is...

FUCK RAUNER!

Brandon, just curious. Did you vote for him? I did not because he felt way to slimy for my liking. Not that Quinn would have been much better.

Yes, I did.  First Quinn betrays us, now Rauner.  Is there no one in this state who won't betray us here?
/end rant.

[johndoe780]

I-39 has me right ....Madigan though looks in good health at 71 pretty comparable to my mother and aunt for that matter . If that's an indication he has 20 -30- years left -15 to 20 in good enough shape to keep ruling .He aint going anywhere unless the feds can get him and they have been trying for years As to Rauner ....well Hobsini said it very well . I do predict we will have MJM long after Rauner is gone
BTW A point of fact How did Rauner make his fortune? State Government . His PE fund GCTR got most of its capital from the TRS

His father died of a heart attack at 60. Given that Madigan grew up in Chicago during the era of high lead levels and probably was a smoker, hopefully it'll hit his arteries and send him towards his father. Oh and madigan lives in the southwest side by midway (trains=soot)

Really off topic. But the hell with Quinn. All that guy did was send his cronny friends to go work at Idoit.

[I-39]

Back to I-39s point . We might have had the Foxway if the ROW had been protected but even if it wasn't a lot of NIMBY there was just so much development .... The mini Crosstown is still possible because there is still the railroad ROW.
The sad news about the Illiana is Rauner appears to have just plain killed it. He pulled every cent and unlike some of the other things on the list he really has full authority to do that . I suspect Indiana will follow and this one will be harder to revive than the Prairie Parkway  which has the whole Hastert back story.  Rauner is also planning on dumping the Tollway board too . That could wipe out a lot of the innovative ideas they have had. Once again he has full authority to do this . One thing  I did learn at the open is that members of the GA are getting more skeptical of IDOT and all the administrations on their road priorities. There was a thinly veiled hint that they had better stop pissing off the GA or expect earmarks

The Foxway (Fox Valley Freeway for those who don't know) may be a reality if they had considered a corridor west of the Fox River along Randall Road. They were so bent on building it along IL-59, and that area was already developed much more than  areas west of the Fox River. Elgin didn't want it along Randall though, so they continued on with studying alignments on the east side. I would have put a corridor protection in place on an alignment a half mile west of Randall Road, before they built all the development.

[02 Park Ave]

I think that the Illiana Corridor project would be well underway if we still had Blagojevich.

[3467]

That is funny about Blago. Blago wanted a capital bill but Madigan thought he would steal the money from those Madigan wanted to reward and pocket it.
Capitol Fax is full of the Rauner Madigan war -I keep thinking its like Godzilla v Mothra and we are the civilians trapped underneath

[hobsini2]

Back to I-39s point . We might have had the Foxway if the ROW had been protected but even if it wasn't a lot of NIMBY there was just so much development .... The mini Crosstown is still possible because there is still the railroad ROW.
The sad news about the Illiana is Rauner appears to have just plain killed it. He pulled every cent and unlike some of the other things on the list he really has full authority to do that . I suspect Indiana will follow and this one will be harder to revive than the Prairie Parkway  which has the whole Hastert back story.  Rauner is also planning on dumping the Tollway board too . That could wipe out a lot of the innovative ideas they have had. Once again he has full authority to do this . One thing  I did learn at the open is that members of the GA are getting more skeptical of IDOT and all the administrations on their road priorities. There was a thinly veiled hint that they had better stop pissing off the GA or expect earmarks

The Foxway (Fox Valley Freeway for those who don't know) may be a reality if they had considered a corridor west of the Fox River along Randall Road. They were so bent on building it along IL-59, and that area was already developed much more than  areas west of the Fox River. Elgin didn't want it along Randall though, so they continued on with studying alignments on the east side. I would have put a corridor protection in place on an alignment a half mile west of Randall Road, before they built all the development.

But you got to remember what Rt 59 was like prior to 1990. 2 lanes of traffic from I-55 to Joliet Rd in Plainfield. A very short 4 laning from Joliet Rd to Lockport St. Back to 2 lanes all the way up to 75th St in Naperville. The section between 75th and North Ave for the most part is the same as it was except for the short 6 lane section right at North Ave. Then it was back to 2 lanes all the way to Barrington Rd. I can tell you that it always was 1 hour from 75th to I-90.

If the Fox Valley was built out by Randall, it would have been too far west to relieve 59.

[noelbotevera]

People EVERYWHERE don't understand that highways HELP - not hurt. But, most of the cities did not heed this thing and ended up with tons of cancelled freeways (Southern California, I'm looking at you). Baltimore would have a finished network if people understood this.

[Henry]

I think that the Illiana Corridor project would be well underway if we still had Blagojevich.

Seconded on that!

[JamesT456]

Will the Illiana get built or be dead, but only time will tell.
http://www.theherald-news.com/2015/06/16/u-s-district-judge-declares-illiana-expressway-federal-approval-invalid/a1tkmab/

U.S. District judge declares Illiana Expressway federal approval 'invalid'
Ruling: Impact study did not consider alternatives, relied on 'faulty' forecasts
Published: Tuesday, June 16, 2015 6:10 p.m. CDT
By LAUREN LEONE—CROSS - lleonecross@shawmedia.com

Considered by some to be a potential nail in the Illiana Expressway project's coffin, a U.S. District Court judge Tuesday ruled the federal government's approval of the $1.3 billion tollway project is invalid.

A critical piece in the Federal High Administration's record of decision – handed down late last year – was "arbitrary and capricious"  and violates federal environmental law, according to U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Alonso.

The action doesn't put a definite end to the bi-state tollway project linking Interstate 55 in Illinois to Interstate 65 in Indiana. But in declaring the federal record of decision and the Tier I environmental impact study invalid, the decision sends Illinois and Indiana transportation officials back to square one without money or backing from the governor's office.

Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Guy Tridgell said via email Tuesday the state agency is still reviewing the ruling and "exploring our options at this time."

"This is a victory,"  said Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, which brought the suit to U.S. District Court on behalf of several regional environmental protection groups.

The decision handed down Tuesday noted the federal government's approval of the expressway was based on a faulty "no build" analysis, and failed to consider other alternatives.

"The flawed 'no build' forecast is the foundation for the agencies' projection of future traffic in the study area and their conclusion that the existing roadways cannot adequately serve the future transportation needs,"  the decision stated.

Because that analysis does not substantiate the purpose and need, the FHWA's approval of the ROD and final EIS is arbitrary and capricious and in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, the ruling added.

The court Tuesday granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment.

Learner said the decision is "well-grounded,"  and should be viewed by Gov. Bruce Rauner, who singled out the project earlier this year by placing it on hold, as "the last straw."

"Rauner had already put the Illiana on terminal life support. The state doesn't have any money to pay for it,"  Learner said.

Stacy Myers, with Openlands Chicago, said the ruling is a "tremendous step forward"  for those opposed to the project. She said the ruling "called out" flawed and exaggerated population projections, noting the analysis thereby fails to justify the need for the road.

Supporters have said the controversial $1.5 billion tollway project – which would serve as a 47-mile east-west link from I-55 in Wilmington to I-65 near Lowell, Indiana – would relieve congestion on local roads and promote economic growth.