New Highways Coming?
There are now a few proposals floating around the area for some new highway work in the area.First, and most exciting, is Mike Madigan's renewed proposal for the long-discussed Crosstown Expressway. This would be a highway that runs along existing train tracks near Cicero on the Southwest side, connecting the Dan Ryan to the Kennedy at the monster juction, and thus allowing traffic to bypass the downtown area.
This sounds like a good idea; indeed, it's been discussed for nearly 30 years, with the biggest hold up being the inevitable displacement of homes and businesses. The worst part about this, to me, is the prospect of another highway feeding the already hellish Kennedy/Ryan/294 Junction that occurs just east of O'Hare. I'm not sure if it could handle the extra capacity.
Speaking of O'Hare, the City and the Airport Authority are planning on making it easier to drive into the airport. They're talking about widening 190, elevating Mannheim Road over the existing 190 ramp, and creating a bypass to allow easy access to 294.
I say: go for it. As anyone who's driven into O'Hare at, well, basically anytime can say, it can get pretty messy around there.
Finally, the Indiana legislature has passed a bill allowing for the building of a new tollway, connecting I-57 (in Illinois) to I-94, in Laporte county.
All of this construction news - maybe the President's promise of money to help fix highway congestion is actually going to go somewhere!
Labels: Construction, Politics
posted by Jon @ 11:15 PM
2 Comments:
there's now plenty of evidence that new highways don't ease congestion, they just get more cars on the road. a far better idea than the crosstown would be the mid-city transitway, a new El line running that route. it would connect the blue, green, orange, and red lines and finally bring the El to huge parts of the city that have been excluded. there was a survey in 2005 that found ridership would be as high as on the north side red line (heaviest used line in the system). we've got to do something to get cars off the road, and expanded public transit has to be central to that.
I agree completely. It's silly how simple trips require a car, when you consider the distances involved. Try taking the CTA to Northbrook - good luck! Or living on the lakefront and taking the Metra anywhere but the North Shore. It's pretty sad.
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