No, the Amstutz will not be expanded any further. Not ever. Areas to the north include a mix of wealthy neighborhoods (by Waukegan standards) and natural areas - including Illinois Beach State Park. To the south is a congested mix of old industrial properties, low-income housing, and whatever will remain of Abbott Laboratories once much of the manufacturing is shuttered in 2014.
There are proposals going through Lake County DOT and the cities of Waukegan and N. Chicago to constuct a bike path along the lake from Waukegan Harbor to Great Lakes Naval Base. And that's as close as anything is going to get to being constructed at either end of the Amstutz. Waukegan, for one, is hoping to entice developers to build condos on the lakefront to the south of their harbor. I know all the players in this particular area and can assure you that nothing is proposed (or even imagined) for the Amstutz. Not even the sorely needed interchange with Belvidere St. (which becomes IL-120).
As for the IL-53 extension, that IS sorely needed and almost all of the Lake County pols seem to support it. But in a 'parkway' form where it will be a half-baked, 2-lane, expensive toll road with an absurd speed limit of 45. It would tie in to IL-120, which - as part of the project - is to be rerouted onto a multi-lane bypass (to the south) of Grayslake. We'll see how that goes.