Elgin-O'Hare Tollway

[Stratuscaster]

I agree - it's "non-standard" in that regard. I honestly think they were just whipped up for the groundbreaking ceremony - although I couldn't tell you why the two markers got posted near Roselle Road.

[rmsandw]

Question I have is the entire EOE now IL 390?  or...is all of Throndale and the EOE IL 390?

[Stratuscaster]

Per the press release, "The soon-to-be-reconstructed road - which was called the Elgin O'Hare Expressway - and the new roadway that will extend east along Thorndale Avenue to O'Hare, is now designated as Illinois Route 390."

[Stratuscaster]

Drove the EOE on Wednesday night, and the posted IL-390 signs are now gone. The posts remain, but the signs themselves were removed.

[Revive 755]

Found this presentation which has some nice maps showing the construction schedule for the Elgin O'Hare starting at Slide 41:

http://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/10157/3772632/EOWACorridorConstruction_MeetingPresentation_11-07-13.pdf

[Henry]

Drove the EOE on Wednesday night, and the posted IL-390 signs are now gone. The posts remain, but the signs themselves were removed.

So will the signs return once the tollway is completed?

[mrsman]

I think that all full or even partial expressways should have a highway number to aid in navigation,  so I applaud Illinois' efforts here.

[Stratuscaster]

So will the signs return once the tollway is completed?

I would presume they would return once the widening of the existing EOE is done, and then get TOLL banners once the new section is done. I seem to recall seeing that in the plans.

Honestly, they could tack on some shields to existing signage and sign the route now, if anything to just get it into people's heads. Thorndale Ave could become "Temporary IL-390".

[Brandon]

^^ There's no real need for the number as of now.  No one outside of a few newscasters calls the road "Illinois 390" or "Route 390".  It's always "The Elgin O'Hare".

[Revive 755]

Dusting off this topic . . .

There are now a couple 'To IL 390 assemblies' on EB I-290, and a 'Begin IL 390' assembly just west of the future IL 53/Rohlwing Road overpass.

[Joe The Dragon]

Drove the EOE on Wednesday night, and the posted IL-390 signs are now gone. The posts remain, but the signs themselves were removed.

So will the signs return once the tollway is completed?

There is still an end IL-390 sign by the I-290 ramp

[Brandon]

Dusting off this topic . . .

There are now a couple 'To IL 390 assemblies' on EB I-290, and a 'Begin IL 390' assembly just west of the future IL 53/Rohlwing Road overpass.

I've seen them, and I need to get photographs.

[Stratuscaster]

I grabbed a few photos recently myself...

[Henry]

Seems to me that IL favors Interstate-style numbers for its state routes, like IL 394! Why they didn't make it into a future Interstate corridor, like other states do nowadays, is far beyond me.

[Joe The Dragon]

Seems to me that IL favors Interstate-style numbers for its state routes, like IL 394! Why they didn't make it into a future Interstate corridor, like other states do nowadays, is far beyond me.

what will the tollway after they take over the road?  any ways many local ad's and news reports mix up the IL and I part.

[Brandon]

^^ Well, there are VMSs that seem to call it "I-390" right now.  I don't know if this is just a mistake, or if this portends what the future may bring.

[Revive 755]

On WB Thorndale east of the I-290 interchange there's an IL 390 shield with some other sign I couldn't make out.  It's close to the interchange, but I can't recall if it was east or west of the Park Avenue intersection.

[Stratuscaster]

BEGIN WEST IL-390, perhaps?

The "ELGIN-O'HARE" shields at the west-end intersections (Irving Park, Springinsguth, Wright, Rodenburg, Mitchell) have been replaced with IL-390 shields.



IL-390 "cutouts" have also been added to many of the frontage road BGS on the west end as well.


TO IL-390 ground mounted signs are on I-290 at Thorndale:

[ET21]

Saw them place the steel girders on one of the ramps. Always amazing to watch these massive things get welded into place

[JoePCool14]

IDOT/ISTHA are too cheap to even replace the whole BGS signs. Also, anyone else notice that the IL390 shields have an odd spec?

[mrsman]

I appluad the use of a number on this highway.  I believe that every limited access highway (including parkways where trucks are restricted) should have a numbered designation, even if most people refer to a highway by name.  It is much easier to identify highways on maps with numbers. 

And for online and GPS maps, numbers often show up at much smaller zoom levels than names.

Long live IL-390!

[silverback1065]

I appluad the use of a number on this highway.  I believe that every limited access highway (including parkways where trucks are restricted) should have a numbered designation, even if most people refer to a highway by name.  It is much easier to identify highways on maps with numbers. 

And for online and GPS maps, numbers often show up at much smaller zoom levels than names.

Long live IL-390!

I could not agree more, driving in the Chicago area (as a visitor) is so easy because of this!  I would have been so lost without numbers!

[SSOWorld]

You have the best of both worlds with the numbers.  Let the locals use the names - NOTE: The old names where applicable, not the names applied by politicians (I'm looking at you Calumet Expressway, Northwest Tollway, etc.)

[mrsman]

You have the best of both worlds with the numbers.  Let the locals use the names - NOTE: The old names where applicable, not the names applied by politicians (I'm looking at you Calumet Expressway, Northwest Tollway, etc.)

In theory, I agree with you.  But in Chicago, it seems that most of those political names have been used for so long that many of today's drivers don't even remember what the old names were.

Whereas in NYC, many of the renamings (RFK Bridge, Hugh Carey Tunnel) were done relatively recently and people still call them by their old names for the most part (Triboro Bridge, Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel).

And don't get me started on what CA (and some other states) do with regard to naming interchanges after police officers killed in the line of duty.  THese are people nobody heard of and nobody uses these names at all.

[Stratuscaster]

IDOT/ISTHA are too cheap to even replace the whole BGS signs. Also, anyone else notice that the IL390 shields have an odd spec?

Too cheap, or being fiscally responsible?

No need to replace a perfectly good sign - many of them on the west end have the space for the shield - why not use it?

The IL-390 shields are more of a "Indiana-spec" than Illinois.