Why aren't there more freeways in Chicagoland? (Naperville, Schaumburg: construction, good schools)

[Lyndale22]

Originally Posted by madpaddy

An expressway between Geneva and Oswego that's precious!



If you wanted a place with easy expressway access to all points yonder, your first mistake was to choose to live in sleepy little bedroom community on the far outskirts Chicagoland that is not near an expressway. Perhaps you should relocate to somewhere closer to the city that sits at the intersection of two or more major expressways like Park Ridge, Elmhurst, Oakbrook, Downers Grove, Rolling Meadows, etc. There are plenty of expressways in Chicagoland. Just none in Geneva.

Yes, Geneva is a major change from the city life we're used to. But, my husband's job is here and the places that are otherwise good locations would give him quite the commute out here each day. The cute downtown and river, the schools which satisfied our requirements, and the availability of "stuff" here convinced us to give it a shot.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Lyndale22

Yes, Geneva is a major change from the city life we're used to. But, my husband's job is here and the places that are otherwise good locations would give him quite the commute out here each day. The cute downtown and river, the schools which satisfied our requirements, and the availability of "stuff" here convinced us to give it a shot.

Well then take satisfaction in what you have. Don't worry about it.

[hindukid]

Looking at a map of Minneapolis it appears to me that Minneapolis has a surprisingly large number of expressways. Not that Chicago has so few. I don't think Minneapolis is the norm.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by pvande55

You could write a book on the subject. In fact many of the routes you mention have been proposed and in some cases Right of Way purchased. The "Crosstown" was on the books for decades, neighborhood opposition killed it. Extending 53 into Lake County is on-again, off-again. Then there is the "Foxway" along the Fox River, usually failing because there isn't enough money to build it and population too sparse. And the rising sentiment that it is ridiculous to build eight lanes that are only needed four hours a day. But parts of some have actually been built: Rt 83 south of Oak Brook, the US 14 bypass of Woodstock, and the Amstutz in Waukegan.

And the Rte 83 section south of I-88 is wonderful, the palatine Expressway between Sanders and Wheeling Rd. is wonderful and Rte 14, had it been built to bypass Fox River Grove, Cary and Crystal Lake would have ben wonderful as a limited access highway. I have always appreciated how the Twin Cities have so many limited access highways. The planners understood they could build them compact instead of building these massive 2 block wide monstrosities. Plans of the Crosstown I looked at made the Dan Ryan look narrow.
Yes we do have better transit than many cities, but the combination of not having road capacity keep up with the growth, lack of early, decisive planning and simple things overpasses at major intersections and timing traffic signals do not happen often enough around here.

[madpaddy]

Originally Posted by Lyndale22

But, my husband's job is here and the places that are otherwise good locations would give him quite the commute out here each day. The cute downtown and river, the schools which satisfied our requirements, and the availability of "stuff" here convinced us to give it a shot.

Given that your husband doesn't need to drive on the expressway to get to work, it seems to me the advantages of living in Geneva outweigh the inconvenience of being 8 miles off the nearest expressway access point (88 Tollway @ Orchard). You gotta remember, you're nearly 40 miles out of downtown Chicago. There can't be direct expressway access to every town that far out. 25 years ago, Randall road was 1 lane each direction and practically the edge of western civilization. Major residential development west of there is a relatively new phenomenon. People who lived west of Randall wanted to be "in the country." They didn't want an expressway nearby because they feared it would accelerate the urbanization of the area. While the sentiment isn't universal anymore, its still prevalent. Instead of an expressway, Randall was substantially improved all the way from Aurora to Elgin to facilitate the flow of north-south traffic on the west side of the valley. It's not as efficient as a freeway, but it was the only option that was financially and politically feasible.

In time, you'll come to accept the fact that it takes a long time to get to most places in Chicagoland from Geneva. That remoteness is part of what has made Geneva's character what it is.

[cali3448893]

The freeways in chicago do not work well. You have to go through crowded downtown for everything, their is so much traffic it takes me sometime 3 hours to get from one place to another. But i mean come on look at Los angeles they haveabout 20 different freeways and there metro is about the same size as chicagos 10 freeways! We need solution now. Third largest city in one of the largest countries in the world and most important ones too. Here is an idea....on the 1-90 from ohare airport to downtown we add about 4 more lanes including express lanes. Train is not helping people.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by cali3448893

The freeways in chicago do not work well. You have to go through crowded downtown for everything, their is so much traffic it takes me sometime 3 hours to get from one place to another. But i mean come on look at Los angeles they haveabout 20 different freeways and there metro is about the same size as chicagos 10 freeways! We need solution now. Third largest city in one of the largest countries in the world and most important ones too. Here is an idea....on the 1-90 from ohare airport to downtown we add about 4 more lanes including express lanes. Train is not helping people.

Not really. You can use 355, 290 and 294 to bypass downtown. So what established neighborhoods do you propose to wreck to add more expressways? Do you think a Chciago mayor is going to risk the political suicide of eliminating 2 city blocks along the entire length of the Kennedy Expressway to add 4 more lanes? Have all the additional lanes improved LA's traffic nightmares or are they now investing heavily in more public transit as an answer? Part of the reason we do not need as many expressways is due to the long history of commuter trains from many of the suburbs into downtown.

Now if you want to discuss adding lanes to existing surface roads without destroying adjacent neighborhoods, I think you will find much more support for that. Really the only areas I would consider new expressways are in the farther reaches where there is much more farmland and/or existing right of ways so established neighborhoods don't get destroyed.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Not really. You can use 355, 290 and 294 to bypass downtown. So what established neighborhoods do you propose to wreck to add more expressways? Do you think a Chciago mayor is going to risk the political suicide of eliminating 2 city blocks along the entire length of the Kennedy Expressway to add 4 more lanes? Have all the additional lanes improved LA's traffic nightmares or are they now investing heavily in more public transit as an answer? Part of the reason we do not need as many expressways is due to the long history of commuter trains from many of the suburbs into downtown.

Now if you want to discuss adding lanes to existing surface roads without destroying adjacent neighborhoods, I think you will find much more support for that. Really the only areas I would consider new expressways are in the farther reaches where there is much more farmland and/or existing right of ways so established neighborhoods don't get destroyed.

This. Building highways has been repeatedly shown to have very little impact on congestion.

[gardener34]

Geneva does have a train though. Which is good. As far as I am concerned, for the past 20 years or so we have lived here, my opinion is that the tri-cities are pretty much a black-hole for employment. Can't believe Kane county has not made more of an initiative to get more companies out here but I suspect companies are not attracted because of the lack of a decent highway in and out of the area. They live here but do not work here, most go to downtown, Schaumburg or Naperville.

Yes, lack of decent transportation is poor in and out of certain areas, i.e. Northshore, Fox Valley, southern burbs (better w/355 ext was a nightmare before), far north burbs. There is lots of political in-fighting and Illinois is broke so highways and other improvements are out of the question for many decades I am guessing.

As far as I am concerned rt 25 and 31 in the fox valley are not really freeways are they? WAY too much stop and go and stop signs. And don't even get me started on Randall Rd - stop signs yikes!!!

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by aragx6

This. Building highways has been repeatedly shown to have very little impact on congestion.

Wow. I wish we could reduce the lanes on the Kennedy to one in each direction, to test this theory. It shouldn't be any more congested than it is now, right?