Driving in and out of the southwest suburbs is going to be a challenge in the next few years.
The Illinois Department of Transportation has scheduled construction projects for each of the major interstate highways that run through the area. A section of Interstate Highway 55 in Will County is to be expanded next year, while parts of Interstate Highways 57 and 80 in Cook County will be improved between 2002 and 2004.
Transportation planners for government agencies in the southwest suburbs have focused on road improvements, plus projects to expand rail service, to cope with the effects of regional growth. The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission reported last year that six of the 10 fastest-growing Chicago-area towns are in the southwest suburbs.
“We need to make road improvements so the region can remain vital and so it can continue to grow economically,” said Linda Bolte, the deputy for planning for the Chicago Area Transportation Study, a not-for-profit Chicago group. “We need to make improvements so we can keep goods and people moving through the area.”
Pushing for I-355 extension
Town leaders in the southwest suburbs have long supported the expansion of Interstate Highway 355 from Bolingbrook to New Lenox. They say the 12.5-mile expansion will relieve congestion and spur economic development in Will County and southwest Cook County.
But the fate of the project has been delayed for years after opponents, saying the road is not necessary and that it could damage the environment, brought a court challenge. State planners, doing an end run, did more studies to look at alternatives and are now awaiting federal approval for the environmental impact study.
In the spring, the expansion proposal became part of an issue confronting state legislators. Gov. George Ryan wanted to increase tolls in order to rebuild older roads, expand the I-PASS electronic toll system and extend I-355.
The state legislature didn’t act on that plan, but local legislators hope there will be some action during the veto session this fall, when the General Assembly may seek a way to pay for the project, estimated to cost at least $700 million.
While attention is focused on extending I-355 into Will County, others are working to improve the existing major routes, Interstate Highways 55, 57 and 80.
A dozen communities along I-55 in Will County, from Joliet to Coal City, joined last year to form the I-55 Corridor Planning Council to lobby for expansion of the road between Bolingbrook and I-80. A transportation study in 2000 found that an average of 370,000 to 480,000 vehicles travel that stretch of Will County each day.
Next year, the Illinois Department of Transportation is to add a lane for a one-mile stretch between Naperville Road in Bolingbrook and Weber Road in Romeoville. The I-55 corridor group wants the road expanded for about another 12 miles, down to I-80.
“Two of our highest priority projects [for state legislators from Will County] is getting 355 started and adding a third lane on I-55 from Romeoville to I-80,” said state Sen. Larry Walsh (D-Elwood), whose district includes Joliet. “I’d like to see three lanes go all the way down to the southern end of the county at Braidwood.”
This spring, legislators allocated $8.2 million for the two phases of engineering for the expansion, said Jamy Lyne, the transportation specialist for the Will County Governmental League. Money for the $150 million project is not in the state’s five-year transportation plan, though IDOT officials have promised to find it, she said.
The agency, however, has set aside $31.5 million for a project farther south on I-55, the reconstruction of the interchange at Arsenal Road, which is just west of former Joliet Arsenal, Lyne said. That project, which could be done in the next two or three years, was planned in response to an Oak Brook developer spending $650 million to build the Deer Run Industrial Park in the former arsenal.
Fixing the crossroads
The state also plans to improve the crossroads of I-80 and I-55, near Joliet, as part of an $11 million project to start in the summer 2002 and be completed the next year, Lyne said. The agency will reconstruct the interchange, improve the lighting and widen nearby lanes, she said.
Next year, IDOT will start construction projects on both I-80 and I-57, said agency spokesman Steve Kulm. The agency will begin preparation work for the I-80 project, between Interstate 294 and the Indiana state line.
The $367 million project, which will be done in conjunction with Indiana’s Transportation Department, will run to U.S. Highway 41 in Indiana when lanes are added and ramps are improved in 2003 and 2004, he said. There are now two or three lanes in each direction and there will be at least four–five to seven near interchanges–when the work is completed, Kulm said.
Drivers using I-57 also will face delays because IDOT started preliminary construction work in August. That work, which should last into October, will cover 12 miles between I-80 and the Dan Ryan Expressway, Kulm said. (South of I-80, bridge replacement at Wilmington-Peotone Road narrowed lanes in July.)
The $133.5 million project involves resurfacing lanes and rehabilitating bridges, which will reduce traffic to just one lane in places. The southbound lanes will be repaired in 2002 and the northbound lanes the next year, Kulm said.
The department also plans to reconstruct the Dan Ryan from 31st Street to I-57 during a $545 million project in 2003 and 2004. Kulm said there will be some lane closures, which will vary depending upon circumstances, but the department promises to keep traffic flowing through the construction zone.
Meanwhile, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association is lobbying the state to build an interchange at the crossroads of I-57 and I-294.
The association, which represents 35 south suburban communities, believes adding the interchange would help with traffic on 147th Street in Posen and 159th Street in Markham, which are the best access points to the two highways, said transportation planner Brad Roback. The state has agreed to help build an interchange, though it won’t be as complete as the association wants, he said.
“The plan would facilitate traffic in all directions,” Roback said. “It is not a conventional interchange, but we’re happy with the design.”
The design phase is now scheduled for 2006, said Joelle McGinnis, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. The agency, which is overseeing the project instead of IDOT, worked on an environmental analysis this summer, she said. The project is on hold because of funding issues on the agency’s end, McGinnis said.
Using funds from the Illinois FIRST infrastructure program, IDOT has allocated $50 million for the interchange, said Roger Valente, an IDOT planner who oversees projects in the south and southwest suburbs.
Focus on La Grange Road
Construction projects are scheduled for both ends of La Grange Road in the southwest suburbs, Valente said. The agency plans to reconstruct a dangerous section near Willow Springs and also expand a section that runs through Orland Park and Tinley Park.
IDOT will realign an S curve between Archer Road and 87th Street and install a barrier median in an area that has been the scene of many serious accidents over the years, Valente said. The agency will also resurface the road between 87th Street and the Cal-Sag Channel near the Palos communities.
A construction contract could be awarded for the 4.2-mile project, to cost $55.5 million, late in 2002 or in 2003, Valente said. The agency is still working with the Cook County Forest Preserve District on a plan for replacing trees that will be displaced by the project, he said.
This fall, IDOT will do the preliminary work necessary to expand La Grange Road, to six lanes from four between 179th Street and I-80 in Orland Park and Tinley Park. The road will be expanded and the agency will rebuild the interchange at I-80 during the $22.4 million project next year, Valente said.
Riding the rails
Meanwhile, transportation planners also are focusing on improving rail service as a way to address traffic problems. Metra is involved with the projects, one to extend its line from Orland Park to beyond Manhattan and the other to develop a line that will ring the far reaches of the suburbs.
Metra plans to extend the Southwest Service Line, which runs from Chicago’s Union Station to 179th Street, from Orland Park to Manhattan. Construction of the 11-mile extension is to begin next year and the service could be started in 2005, said agency spokesman Frank Malone.
The federal transit administration could sign off on a funding agreement for the $198 million project this fall, he said. The project would then be subject to congressional review, Malone said.
As part of that expansion, Metra plans to add a second track to the line between Palos Park and Orland Park to alleviate service interruptions caused by freight trains. Construction will begin next year and will allow the daily number of trains to increase to 30 from 16 in 2005, Malone said.
Metra is also working to establish a rail line that would ring the outer suburbs of Chicago. More than 20 communities support the project, including Joliet and Richton Park.
Plans call for Metra to develop the line adjacent to the 110 miles of track of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, which runs freight trains from Waukegan to Barrington, south to Aurora and Joliet and then east to Lynwood near the Indiana line. The line would not go into Chicago, officials said.
A feasibility study completed in 1999 found that building the line could cost up to $1.3 billion, with construction taking up to 15 years. Metra is just beginning a second feasibility study, which could identify potential riders, Malone said.
“We have always said that this would be at least a 10-year process and now we’re in the early stages,” he said. “A huge issue to be worked out is with the freight lines, so we can co-exist. We’re still a long way from deciding whether to make a funding request [to the federal government] to build it.”
