Route 53 extension (Palatine, Glen Ellyn, Grayslake: centers, design, suburbs)

[RE Investor Lee]

Anybody know what the latest news/update is for the Rt 53 expansion? Thanks!

[cubssoxfan]

There was an article a couple weeks ago about the extension. The objecting communities (Long Grove, Hawthorn Woods) the communities favoring it and environmentalists have come up with a compromise. A 4 lane, limited access tollway with sound barriers, landscaping and below grade sections to mitigate noise. Very limited interchanges; the first 2 going north from Lake Cook Rd are Rte 22 and Midlothian Rd, 45 MPH speed limit. There was also discussion about tightening up zoning around the highway to keep an explosion of strip malls and housing developments from popping up.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

There was an article a couple weeks ago about the extension. The objecting communities (Long Grove, Hawthorn Woods) the communities favoring it and environmentalists have come up with a compromise. A 4 lane, limited access tollway with sound barriers, landscaping and below grade sections to mitigate noise. Very limited interchanges; the first 2 going north from Lake Cook Rd are Rte 22 and Midlothian Rd, 45 MPH speed limit. There was also discussion about tightening up zoning around the highway to keep an explosion of strip malls and housing developments from popping up.

This sounds like a silly compromise. It should really just be six lanes of I-355 all the way north, and then east to connect to I-94. "Community input" in this case is really screwing things up, as normal, since the idiots are usually the most vocal people making demands.

But, I guess this is better than nothing... Now if only they can figure out how to fund it.

[MSchemist80]

I wouldn't pay big money in tolls to only go 45 [of course the speed limits on the tollways are generally ignored]. 4 lanes aren't enough either.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

This sounds like a silly compromise. It should really just be six lanes of I-355 all the way north, and then east to connect to I-94. "Community input" in this case is really screwing things up, as normal, since the idiots are usually the most vocal people making demands.

But, I guess this is better than nothing... Now if only they can figure out how to fund it.

I disagree. 6 lanes like 355 is too wide of a footprint. The only way the NIMBYS will agree to it is if it is small in scope. With very few interchanges and no stop lights or cross roads I think it will work to alleviate traffic off of surface roads like Rte 83, Old Mchenry and Gilmer without being a behemoth. Think in terms of a mini-expressway like Palatine Rd between Wheeling Rd and Sanders. A road can be small in scope and still move traffic. Doesn't always have to built to "Interstate" standards.
Funding would be via tolls.

[pvande55]

While I doubt it will be built, I believe a parkway would be desirable. Check out some of the parkways in NY and NJ. Lots of grass, no billboards, even the cell towers disguised as trees.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

I disagree. 6 lanes like 355 is too wide of a footprint. The only way the NIMBYS will agree to it is if it is small in scope.

From the standpoint of the entire metro area, it makes a lot more sense to have this road be a fully-integrated part of the interstate system, connecting 290/355 with 94. I realize that this "parkway" is more popular with NIMBY opposition, but they are acting in their self-interest (understandably so). I'm talking about what this really should be in the absence of NIMBY opposition--and that's a true 6-lane Interstate or Tollway. There are millions of people in the western/nortwestern suburbs that have no direct route north unless they go east all the way to east to 294 or 94, and those are real traffic choke points.

[chet everett]

I used to work in the area near the end of the current expressway. I have very mixed feelings about the value of extending a true expressway along the 53 corridor. There are obviously more people that want to travel north on Rand Rd (Rt 12) than the capacity of the road. The various commercial developments in that part of the region are not uniformly successful and some of the challenges about why they are not probably has to do with the difficulty of getting around. The various differences in the relative affluence of folks in areas served by Stevenson or Liberrtyville schools is sharply contrasted by folks in Mundelein. Lake Zurich is between the two and probably has the most to gain / give up depending on what sort of development happens along with the extension.

The thing is if you look at the 355 corridor through DuPage Co it would be hard to argue the tollway has been a uniform plus or minus -- it certainly seems to have improved access to things like the Ikea and Costco in Bolingbrook and given developers in the area south of that area some incentive to build more tract homes. Area in central & northern DuPage seem to have be much less changed. Sure, it make the travel from the Schaumburg area less of a hassle to places like Glen Ellyn or western Downers Grove, but it has also probably damped down demand for office space in places like Itasca or Addison...

It is undeniable that there are some really nice nature areas in Lake Co, I can sympathize with the folks that do not want to see more of the sprawl replace the little streams / ponds / wetlands that dot the area. The more rural style of development is definitely not going to appeal to density-loving urbanophiles but like most fads I suspect eventually the 'antidote' to the current craze will simply be time -- some percentage of goofs that think it is cool to cram into El cars will eventually realize a range of development options actually is far preferable to uniformly jam-packed area...

The toughest questions are what happens to the other areas further away from the corridor -- are folks that take 176 out to Marengo going to shift their commutes? Will that hurt or help with patterns of development?

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

From the standpoint of the entire metro area, it makes a lot more sense to have this road be a fully-integrated part of the interstate system, connecting 290/355 with 94. I realize that this "parkway" is more popular with NIMBY opposition, but they are acting in their self-interest (understandably so). I'm talking about what this really should be in the absence of NIMBY opposition--and that's a true 6-lane Interstate or Tollway. There are millions of people in the western/nortwestern suburbs that have no direct route north unless they go east all the way to east to 294 or 94, and those are real traffic choke points.

having cycled many of the roads in the area and getting a real feel for the area, I disagree. They are trying to avoid the overall suburbanization like in DuPage and strike a better balance. What you propose would be like building an interstate highway through Wayne; it would really destroy the feel of the area. I used to have the same opinion, but have come to appreciate the slow steady approach that protects the more rural feel of the area instead of the "let's make a quick buck and put up as many homes and strip malls as possible" mentality.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

having cycled many of the roads in the area and getting a real feel for the area, I disagree. They are trying to avoid the overall suburbanization like in DuPage and strike a better balance. What you propose would be like building an interstate highway through Wayne; it would really destroy the feel of the area. I used to have the same opinion, but have come to appreciate the slow steady approach that protects the more rural feel of the area instead of the "let's make a quick buck and put up as many homes and strip malls as possible" mentality.

I think either road will have the same effect on the so-called "rural character". Development will pop up along the interchanges regardless of the "parkway" or "tollway" designation. The question is whether the new road will be able to handle the increased traffic or not. This isn't simply taking existing traffic off of highway 12. It is providing a route north for DuPage and north Cook Counties as an alternate to 294, which is too far east to be convenient to many people.

There are a lot of people in DuPage and north Cook Counties that currently take 88 or 90 east to 294 to go north to 94, and this new road will divert some portion of that traffic away from some pretty terribly congested roads. For me in Glen Ellyn it's only a few minutes more to go north on 355 to 290 to 53 to Lake Cook Rd to 94 on with the EXISTING configuration than it is for me to take 88 to 294... This new road would clearly tilt that balance towards the 53 extension by several minutes.

I also think it makes sense to better connect the populous western suburbs and job centers to the populous northern suburbs and job centers in Lake County. The western leg of the I-88 corridor has a lot of population and jobs, as does the northern leg of the I-94 corridor. Currently it's hard to drive between the two areas.