You can't escape the rush hour traffic in Lake County.

You've tried leaving early. Going home late. Taking a bunch of different routes. Nothing works. You're losing sleep, time with your family and friends, time at work. Instead, you have lots of windshield time with your car. You're losing part of your life, wasting time in a congested mess on Lake County roads with no end in sight.

A simple "yes" vote April 7 can help change all that.

The Route 53 project has been planned for years. Now, you finally get to vote in favor of it. You can tell Lake County, state and federal leaders know you're sick and tired of traffic jams. You want to stop wasting dozens of hours behind the wheel every month, watching all the vehicles around you pollute the air while they inch along at a frustrating pace.

And, you can do more than vote. You can tell your family, neighbors and friends to vote "yes" for Route 53. Tell them how it will enrich their lives, help businesses and improve the economic future of the county. We can help you do that. Sign up for e-mail blasts, Twitter alerts, and a Facebook page that will provide the latest on our plan to bring some sanity to the crazy mess of traffic in Lake County.

Results from the 120 CPC meeting last night.

The 120 Corridor Planning Council reached one of the major decision points last night, which was to decide on the character of the road. There were 3 remaining options that were voted on.

13 of the 16 members were present so we had a good representation of key decision makers throughout the corridor.

Alternative 5-- 6 lane expressway with limited on and offs failed
2 votes to 11 votes

Alternative 4-- 6 lane expressway signalized arterial failed
1 votes to 11 votes

Alternative 3-- 4 lane boulevard (either signalized or with roundabouts) passed
11 votes to 2 votes

I cast the villages vote for Alternative 3, based on a few things, the first being cost, followed by land use issues along the corridor are easier to solve with alternative 3.

Alternatives to Driving: Transit on the Tollway

The Illinois Tollway’s board of directors recently approved Tomorrow’s Transportation Today, a $1.8 billion plan to relieve traffic congestion by investing in key Interstate to Interstate interchanges and creating dedicated Green Lanes that will encourage more Tollway commuters to consider carpooling, vanpool programs, and express bus services. Green Lanes combine the functions of high-occupancy toll lanes (HOT), high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV), and carpool lanes – all of which are helping uncork bottlenecks in states across the country by squeezing more capacity out of existing roadways through variable tolling. The investment includes $1.4 billion for interchange improvements, as well as $400 million to support new transit alternatives for Tollway commuters who don’t want to pay more to drive alone.

From L.A. to North Carolina, other U.S. regions have had success with similar programs. Seattle’s HOV/HOT lanes move the equivalent capacity of four regular lanes during rush hours. In Houston, more than 40,000 daily commuters use the express transit buses – up from virtually zero transit riders since HOV lanes were first introduced in 1979. North Carolinans who carpool, vanpool, or ride transit cut their commuting costs by approximately $3,000 each year. Both HOV lane users and non-users gave Los Angeles’ system an 88 percent public approval rating. By encouraging carpooling, increasing transit options, and improving connections between tollways and transit routes, commuters benefit from a wide menu of options to fulfill their transportation needs.

The Green Lanes also provide a new opportunity for Pace to help meet the region’s rising transit demands without taking on significant new capital expenses. Express bus service along the Tollway’s dedicated Green Lanes, coupled with new park-and-ride facilities and intermodal centers, will provide commuters with more reliable and accessible transit options and help reduce regional congestion. In coordination with Pace, the Regional Transportation Authority, and Chicago Metropolitan Agency

for Planning, the Illinois Tollway's Green Lanes Plan will help strengthen the connectivity between existing transit services and future regional transportation and land use improvements. As planners explore new alternatives to fight gridlock, making the most of existing infrastructure is an important part of a cost-effective system.

For Additional Information:

• Tomorrow’s Transportation Today: A Progressive Improvement Plan – Illinois Tollway Press Release
• Green Lanes Plan – Illinois Tollway
• Personal Benefits of HOV Lanes – North Carolina Department of Transportation

New Road Projects on Horizon

From Yesterday's Daily Herald.

Five road projects, some too complicated and expensive to have been realistically considered before, are on Lake County's fast track.

Transportation officials on Wednesday unveiled a list of road work projects to be paid for with increased sales tax revenue, authorized last year as part of a Regional Transportation Authority reform.

Nearly $11 million is being proposed for the required first stage of study for five major projects. The county board's public works and transportation committee supports the choices, which go to the county board next week for official approval.

The suggested projects are:

• $3.54 million for Route 83/Rollins Road/Canadian National Railroad/Hainesville Road intersections.
• $2.14 million for Route 45 at Millburn Road.
• $980,000 for Route 176/Fairfield Road.
• $1.92 million for Route 134/Fairfield Road/Metra railroad intersections.
• $2.15 million for Washington Street, Hainesville Road to Lake Street and Canadian National railroad crossing.

In each case, the money is being designated for preliminary engineering, also referred to as Phase 1 of a given project. That process takes about two years.

"The purpose of the Phase 1 study is to find out what's the best solution," said Marty Buehler, director of transportation. "We're looking for the long-term improvement."

The solution could be an overpass or underpass, which is much more involved than adding lanes or widening an intersection. The Route 83/Rollins project in Round Lake Beach, for example, would have a major impact on businesses.

County officials say the projects will include a significant amount of public involvement, such as a business task force for the Route 83/Rollins project.

The concerns would be different at Fairfield/Route 176, which has forest preserve property on all four corners. In that case, environmental impacts would be the main concern.

Whatever the decisions, the county is making a point of moving as quickly as possible to use its new source of revenue.

Collected since last summer, the sales tax is expected to provide the county with more than $29 million a year in new revenue - more than doubling its current road work budget.

"We wanted to put the money to work as quickly as possible so people see we mean business to get projects done," said Paula Trigg, director of planning and programming for the division of transportation.

The list presented Wednesday is not the first expenditure of the new sales tax funds. About $3 million already has designated as a local match for the reconstruction of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from Sheridan Road to Green Bay Road, a $12 million project.

Last year, the county board voted to spend all the new sales tax money on road work, although other uses such as public safety projects also are allowable.

About 60 percent of the county funds are designated for state road projects that are considered perennial bottlenecks the Illinois Department of Transportation has not had the funding to pursue.

Adopt a Lake County Highway

Business, civic, social, youth and not-for-profit organizations looking to volunteer for the good of their community can adopt a highway from the Lake County Division of Transportation. The program allows groups to work together as a team, twice a year, to pick up litter on both sides of their adopted stretch of county highway. Groups develop teamwork, promote their organization and provide a valuable public service to the community. (My campaign for Senate has helped out at few roads throughout the district hence the picture)

Adopt-a-Highway is particularly suited to environmentally conscious organizations and citizens. The program provides an opportunity for these groups to make a personal contribution toward a cleaner environment. Adopt-a-Highway volunteers have removed litter from 259 sections of Lake County bike paths and highways. Thanks to their efforts, the organizations have improved the appearance of the county’s highway system. “With over 305 centerline miles of county highways, Division of Transportation highway workers need volunteer efforts of citizens and organizations to help keep our roadways clean,” said Director of Transportation/County Engineer Marty Buehler. “We’re extremely grateful for their efforts in the past and look forward to working with new groups in the future.”

The Lake County Division of Transportation provides participating groups with high-visibility vests, trash bags and safety information. Groups are recognized on roadway signs placed along their adopted stretch of highway. Current participants include groups such as the Winthrop Harbor Police Department, YMCA Camp Duncan and the Warren Dugout Club.

Applications for the Adopt-a-Highway program are available by calling the Lake County Division of Transportation at (847) 377-7400. Completed applications for the program should be sent to the Lake County Division of Transportation offices, 600 W. Winchester Road, Libertyville, IL 60048. Adopt-a-Highway applications for the fall program are due between August 1st and August 31st 2008. Participants must be at least ten years of age. Participants younger than 18 years of age must have adequate adult supervision.

For further information, please visit the Division of Transportation on the Lake County Web site, located at www.co.lake.il.us. The Lake County Division of Transportation serves county residents and visitors by, among other things, planning, constructing, maintaining and working to improve the county transportation infrastructure.

On the Road: Fighting Those High Fuel Prices

With the average cost of gasoline and diesel fuel at over $4 per gallon, businesses and their employees need to conserve energy. Higher gas prices have affected everyone—from fleet managers for large companies, to truckers delivering goods, to employees driving to work. If you can't afford alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles, you can still significantly improve vehicle fuel economy (easily up to 40%) with a few generally low-cost techniques. Here are some ideas for both your organization and your employees, some of which may surprise you.

Drive More Efficiently

Drive Sensibly. Aggressive driving (speeding, and rapidly accelerating or braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds and by 5% around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money. Fuel Economy Benefit: 5%–33%.

Observe the Speed Limit. While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.30 per gallon for gas. Observing the speed limit is also safer. Fuel Economy Benefit: 7%–23%.

Remove Excess Weight. Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2%. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle's weight, and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones. Fuel Economy Benefit: 1%-2% per 100 lbs.

Avoid Excessive Idling. Idling gets 0 miles per gallon. Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas at idle than cars with smaller engines.

Use Cruise Control. Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.

Use Overdrive Gears. When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces engine wear.

Keep Vehicles in Shape

Keep Vehicle Engines Properly Tuned. Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4%, though results vary based on the kind of repair and how well it is done. Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as 40%. Fuel Economy Benefit: 4%.

Check and Replace Air Filters Regularly. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your car's gas mileage by as much as 10%. Your car's air filter keeps impurities from damaging the inside of your engine. Not only will replacing a dirty air filter save gas, it will protect your engine. Fuel Economy Benefit: up to 10%.

Keep Tires Properly Inflated. You can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3% by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.4% for every 1 psi drop in the pressure of all four tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer. Fuel Economy Benefit: up to 3%.

Organizational Issues

Commuting

• Allow flex-time when possible. Employees who can stagger their hours can spend less time sitting in traffic and idling during peak rush hour periods. Offer telecommuting (working from home) when it makes sense.
• Encourage carpooling or ride-sharing programs. These can help employees cut fuel usage by up to 50%. Public transportation, if available, is another good fuel saving option. Encourage participation by offering incentives or rewards.

Traveling. Avoid traveling by car or plane to meetings or training sessions whenever possible. Much of this type of work can be accomplished through conference calls, web conferencing, or other alternatives. While these technologies can't totally replace face-to-face contact, they can help cut significantly on fuel costs.

Fleet Management. Many commercial fleets are oversized for the jobs that they need to perform. Fleet managers should review their vehicle mix. Often, a mix of lighter vans and mid-sized vehicles can do the work now being done by bigger, less efficient trucks. Fleet managers should also take a look at pick-up and delivery schedules to look for opportunities to combine loads or otherwise save fuel.

Drive Only Fuel Efficient Vehicles. For company cars, personal vehicles, and rentals, look for only the most fuel efficient vehicles available. An excellent resource is the U.S. EPA Web site, FuelEconomy.gov, which includes side-by-side comparison of the fuel efficiency of different vehicles from current and past model years, as well as information on hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles.

Number 3 with a Bullet!

The folks at the Lake County Motorist Blog have named the village's website the 3rd best in Lake County for commuters! You can reach our website here. I am consistently amazed at Lake County Motorist and his blog, so in honor of his ranking I would say that his blog is number #2 in terms of blogs that cover transportation! No prizes for guessing which one is number one! But you can give me guesses as to why I used this picture! Comments are the place to guess!

Report on the 120 Bypass (Part 1 of 5)

Last week we held one of our regular 120 Bypass Corridor Planning Council (CPC) meetings of which I am the Chairman. Our consultants TranSystems are getting into the meat of the matter with traffic projections involving all the major scenarios.

NOTE: This is an elaborate post involving many 11 x 17 pdfs so I am going to space the posts out all this week, my recommendation is to download the pdf and print it out while you look at them because its much easier to compare the scenarios and make observations.

The first item of business is to examine todays (2005 numbers are the most recent) of what is called ADT (Average Daily Traffic) counts, these numbers are gathered by IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation). The numbers you see are only the cars on the actual roadway so to when a road crosses the route you need to add both ADT's to determine the flow for that intersection.

Some more information, when a two lane road reaches 15,000 ADT it is considered seriously congested, numbers past 20,000 indicate saturation and you literally can't put that many more cars on the road, for example 120 between Alleghany and Hainesville Road is 22,900 ADT right now. That number will not go much higher because the road just can't handle any more. Same thing for a 4 lane road 30,000 is serious congestion and 35-40,000 is as high as you can go, existing roads like this in Lake County today are Grand Avenue in Gurnee which is at 51,700 in some places.

Here is the first map which is existing conditions in Lake County right now. You can see that starting from US Route 12 and running East the entire route 120 is over the seriously congested aspect, hence the need for the 120 bypass or improvements to existing 120! Some locations I want to look at repeatedly on these maps are as follows:

• Look at the number for 120 at 83, 17,700! With train tracks no less! We can all visualize the long backups almost to Hainesville road in the mornings and the reverse backup in the evenings.
• Interstate 94 has 113,000 ADT right now.
• Peterson Road has 9,400 ADT between 60 and Alleghany
• 60 has 14,200 just past Fremont Center.
• Fairfield has 10,500 at Gilmer.
• Washington has 15,800 at 83.

I have driven all these roads at various times and can visualize these numbers in terms of how long I waited to get through intersections as I am sure all of you can as well.

Now we get to the interesting stuff Scenario 1: No improvements to IL 120. CMAP (Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning) has done extensive studies of the traffic patterns in Chicagoland and the numbers are the ones that IDOT requires us to use to determine future need. They are based on what projected traffic would look like in 2030. 22 years from now. So Scenario 1 is if nothing changes, no improvements nothing!

One caveat on these scenarios, is that they have been adjusted to take in the planned road improvements over the next 22 years, so for example Peterson's eventual widening to 4 lanes is taken into account.

• Look at the number for 120 at 83 now, 17,700 in 2008 but in 2030 the number is 17,400 indicating that the stretch of road is as full as it can be right now. But look along 120 east and west of this intersection, congestion has built everywhere. Essentially the feel of traffic along the entire 120 roadway will be the same as the 120 and 83 intersection in 22 years.
  
• Interstate 94 has 113,000 ADT in 2008. The new number is 161,400 in 2030.
  
• Peterson Road has 9,400 ADT between 60 and Alleghany in 2008. With the widening the road is heavily congested at 25,500 ADT in 2030.
  
• 60 has 14,200 just past Fremont Center in 2008. Now the traffic flows onto Peterson and not down 60 because there is some nonsense off the map there as well towards Mundelien.
  
• Fairfield has 10,500 at Gilmer in 2008. The number here is 15,000 (serious congestion) in 2030.
  
• Washington has 15,800 at 83 in 2008. The number here is 19,100 in 2030.

What is happening is that 120 has reached saturation, and commuters are seeking other routes, loading up on Peterson, Washington and Rollins (24,300 to 35,400) to go East. Traffic is quite frankly a disaster everywhere in the county.

Lake County Motorist-- GREAT Blog!

I have been reading a great blog for some time now and I need to share it with you becuase of its topical nature and of course it's coverage of Lake County Traffic. Lake County Motorist is a blog about driving in Lake County, Illinois. The author is a relatively new Lake County resident, having lived here for two years. Here is what he says about his blog.

I’m now turning my sights to my new home county, because this place has a lot of traffic. Metra has become my best friend, but I still drive quite a bit more than I did while living in the city. Around here, I can use a little help finding the best routes, and roads are always under construction (which can sometimes be a good thing because we need the infrastructure). And if I “discover” a good route, I’ll share it - that is, if I can remember which roads I was on. I often find new routes while getting unbelievably lost, but that’s part of the adventure. Let’s talk about Lake County transportation.

I would add this to your favorites!

Passenger moons speed camera

I got this from one of my favorite sites Boing Boing, and since we all seem to be tense with my last couple posts this could be funny. I warn you its mildly graphic so you have been warned adult concepts! Road rage! You could visualize this happening in some Lake County commutes!

Illinois Works Coalition

Illinois' infrastructure is a vital asset that significantly contributes to our overall success. A strong state infrastructure fosters business growth, world-class schools and thriving communities.

Investment in infrastructure creates jobs and sets the stage for Illinois' continued economic leadership. However, it has been nine years since the Illinois General Assembly passed a capital bill.

Illinois Works is a $25 billion capital improvement program designed to make crucial investments in our schools, roads, bridges, airports and transit systems. Crucial investments that will improve our quality of life and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

In the coming weeks and months, this site will be home to a statewide movement calling for the passage of Illinois Works during the spring legislative session.

We ask you to join with us and advocate for passage of Illinois Works. It's time to rebuild our infrastructure and put Illinois to work.

Mayors Transportation Committee Meeting

I attended a Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Transportation Committee last week and was able to listen to a couple proposals that the Metropolitan Planning Council is working on. One of them was the concept of congestion pricing on toll roads.

The concept being that if you pay a higher toll during peak hours, people are less likely to drive for frivolous things during those peak times. I have noticed that on days where some businesses have the day off, traffic is slightly less nasty, and the flow is smoother. Presidents day is one that comes to mind. However in some of the examples given people in LA could pay $9 for a trip down a toll road!

Rather then write endlessly about this here is a link to the Metropolitan Planning Council list of articles about congestion pricing. Later on this week I am going to write about some local road projects and some rail projects worth a long range look.

The Case for Capital: LCP / LCTA Investors Forum April 28

Transportation and its need for capital in Illinois will be the topic of the morning on Monday, April 28 at Lake County Partners (LCP) / Lake County Transportation Alliance (LCTA) Investors Forum. Beginning with a breakfast networking reception, the forum will be held from 7:30 - 10:00 a.m. at the University Center of Lake County in Grayslake.

Alleviation of transportation congestion and enhancement of mass transit are clearly two high priority goals on Lake County's economic development agenda.

Key note speakers include:
State Representative Julie Hamos, Chair of the Illinois Mass Transit Committee, who will speak about "The Need for Transit Capital" and State Representative Sidney Mathias, Vice Chair of the Illinois Mass Transit Committee, who will address "The Need for Highway and Bridge Capital." Hamos was the chief sponsor of the recently enacted mass transit legislation (HB 656).

U. S. Representatives Melissa Bean and Mark Kirk are also invited (not yet confirmed) to provide transportation updates from the federal perspective - an important one since billions of federal dollars for transportation capital projects are at stake awaiting state match.

State Senator Terry Link and State Representative JoAnn Osmond will present updates at the state level on transportation legislative issues of interest. At the county level, Lake County Board's Vice Chair Mike Talbett will discuss Lake County's transportation-related legislative program.

In addition, local and regional updates will be presented on a range of topics:

• Bill Gentes, Mayor of Round Lake, on progress of the Route 120 Corridor Planning Council. Gentes is chair of the Route 120 CPC.
• Kent Street, Village Manager for Deerfield, on progress of U. S. Route 41 Corridor Planning Group. Street chairs the Route 41 CPG.
• Catherine Starostovic, Grant Township Supervisor, will discuss paratransit opportunities in Lake County, including current progress and future plans. Starostovic is Chair of the Lake County Coordinated Transportation Services Committee (LCCTSC).
• Diane O'Keefe and Marty Buehler will present updates on capital funding priority projects at the state and county levels. O'Keefe is the Illinois Department of Transportation District One Engineer, and Buehler is the Lake County Department of Transportation Engineer.

Illinois State Representative Kathy Ryg will close the forum with an update on her Task Force's efforts to align the DCEO Northeast Region's Economic Development vision and agenda with Lake County's 52 communities and LCP. Other sponsors for the event include Lake Cook TMA, Lake County Municipal League, and Lake County.

Transit Innovations in Curitiba, Brazil

The city of Curitiba is home to almost 2 million people and is the cultural, political, and financial center in southern Brazil. It has faced many of the same dilemmas that plague transportation planners and policymakers in U.S. cities. In the 1960s, traffic congestion was ruining the livability of the city and harming the economy, but the city did not have enough money to build the kind of expensive, fixed-rail transit line that had become the norm in other large cities around the world. An innovative, low-cost solution was needed, or else Curitiba would stop growing and lose its status as the economic hub of the region.

Local planners, led by future mayor Jamie Lerner, tapped available resources to provide the best possible product for their residents. Rather than spend $16-24 million/mile for a light rail system or $100–200 million/mile for an underground subway, the city invested $6 million/mile to construct an extensive rapid- bus system. Planners took the comfort, speed, and frequency of an expensive subway and applied them to an above-ground, subway-like system using buses. They built tube bus stations and installed turnstiles for rapid boarding and fare collection along designated bus lanes. A conventional bus, with an 80-passenger capacity on an average street, could transport 1,000 passengers per day. Boarding tubes and bus right-of-way lanes allow Curitiba's buses to carry 4,000 passengers per day.

Curitiba's bus system has been a huge success, as the city has been transformed into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, environmentally conscious, and sustainable place. With buses arriving every 36 seconds to move passengers in and out of the city, Curitiba's 1,902 buses attract 2.3 million riders daily. Because there are so many transit users, fuel consumption in the city is 30 percent lower than in Brazil's other major metropolitan areas.

Lessons to Learn

Curitiba's convenience, cleanliness, and attractiveness of a public transportation system encourage people to leave their cars at home and take a bus. In Curitiba, for example, 85 percent of the population uses the system, as development around the stations also helps increase ridership. Transit users can easily access and enjoy nearby services and amenities including housing, restaurants, and stores. The city coordinated with land use and zoning departments to ensure that higher density residential units were allowed closer to the tube bus stations.

Chicago and other U.S. cities are considering new bus systems that borrow the best ideas from Curitiba. Mayor Richard Daley recently said, "All the money we're spending to remodel the El and the tunnel system… that is an enormous amount of money. You'll have to put it in [again] in another 20 years or 30 years. Some way, you have to look at some form of a bus system."

Curitiba and Chicago have similar population size, transit budget constraints, and roles as a cultural and economic hub. Whether it's re-striping current traffic lanes to accommodate a bus-only lane for rapid transit access or better interconnectivity between transportation modes, Chicago can learn from Curitiba's transit success.

More Information & Resources:

• The Road to Curitiba—New York Times
• Issues in Bus Rapid Transit: Curitiba—Public Transit
• The Curitiba Experience: Evolution of the Bus System—USDOT Federal transit Administration
• Curitiba's Urban Experiment—PBS Frontline World

Thanks to the Metropolitan Planning Council for the article.

Paving Cedar Lake Road Moved Forward

The Village has been able to get Lake County to resurface Cedar Lake Road from Hart to Park Road. The resurfacing was programed for 2012 but given the accelerated deterioration of the road this winter, we were able to get this $500,000 resurfacing project. There is also a $20 million dollar resurfacing project that will have bids opened this May as well on the horizon, so there will be some relief for some of the numbing trips over these roads!

Get Informed and Provide Input on Transportation

Transportation is a top strategic priority of the Lake County Board and the County recognizes that part of the solution has to be addressed in Springfield. The County is asking state leaders to approve a capital program that adequately funds all forms of state transportation. Citizens can let their voice be heard on this critical issue by sending an email message to their state legislators, Governor Blagojevich, and state legislative leaders encouraging them to dedicate funding for roads, bridges, and transit across Illinois. Visitors to the County Building in Waukegan can email their state leaders at a computer terminal set up in the lobby which links to www.FixOurRoadsNow.com.

A computer is also accessible in the lobby of the Lake County Division of Transportation in Libertyville. The www.FixOurRoadsNow.com website is sponsored by the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, whose mission is to protect, improve and promote the transportation design and construction industry in Illinois. After the user enters their contact information, the website determines who their representatives are, and allows them to personalize an email message.

Lets Talk Roads

Route 53! Is it the great white whale? Or is it the solution to all Lake Counties Traffic ills? I do know what it is, probably the single most polarizing issue in Lake County for the 20-30 years.

Anyone who drives a car through western Lake County can see that the old country roads are woefully inadequate to today's traffic-that wider, faster roads like the 53 extension are sorely needed. It's simple common sense-so why the big fuss?

The real opposition, the moneyed, vocal opposition, is coming from a different group: the NIMBYs. (NIMBY stands for "not in my back yard.")

In some ways, it's understandable. Given a choice, most everyone would prefer not to have a major thoroughfare running right by their neighborhood. If it were possible, we'd all like to live in the peace and quiet of a quaint nineteenth century village, while having all the modern conveniences at the same time. But, of course, that isn't possible. There are always tradeoffs.

Think about it: any highway that services a highly populated area is going to have to run close to someone. To those who live in proximity to the proposed route I say instead: let's work together, rather than against one another. The need for adequate roads is a fact of modern life, like the need for power lines, water mains, and rail lines. Rather than cooking up transparent "reasons" against 53 to hide NIMBY, why not make sure that anyone genuinely disadvantaged is fairly compensated, and that everything (like soundproofing walls, landscaping, wide roadway shoulders) are provided to minimize the impact of needed roads on those living nearby? That will create a "win-win" for everyone.

Having said all that I am not terribly optimistic that it will get done, while I and probably 95% of the Round Lake area support 53 we need to focus on doable projects like the 120 bypass. I would gladly lead and champion a realistic effort to build 53. However I am going to continue to push a project that I believe will happen-- the 120 bypass. I will of course advocate for 53 no matter where I am as an elected official, but we should also be pragmatic and focus on the doable.

That Route 53 Thinga-ma-jiggy Heats Up!

I got this email about a week ago from a person who could not have summed up the frustration for roads and Route 53 in particular. I am a strong supporter of 53, but have always thought that the window closed many years ago when we as a county could not get on the same page. The emailer asked me to answer and answer I will tomorrow. His email strongly outlines the level of frustration about transportation and the lack of it in Western Lake County and in Eastern McHenry

As a resident of neighboring Volo, I enjoy regularly visiting your blog and strongly agree with many of your viewpoints, in particular the need for the proposed Advocate Hospital, as well as the Route 120 bypass. With that said, I wanted to mention a couple of recent articles I read in the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald. The articles stated that the Illinois Tollway Authority has officially authorized its staff (on Thurs,12/20/07) to prioritize its most critical proposed projects (now that 355 South Extension is complete), with the Route 53 extension specifically mentioned, along with the Prarie Parkway and Illiana Expressway. Here are the links: to the article in the Daily Herald and the Chicago Tribune.

Now, while I'm well aware of how long this project has been on the table, this seems like a great opportunity for local elected officials in Lake County who support the extension to get together with one uniform voice to finally push this forward. It seems that overwhelmingly the residents and villages of Lake County support the extension and this seems like as good as an opportunity as ever to attempt to move forward and become the next top priority project for the Illinois Tollway. In particular, when I reviewed the other projects on the table listed in the articles, the Route 53 extension actually seems like the most sensible/needed, with the strongest case for, with the longest standing proposal, and ironically, the one with the most support for it. Additionally, with the significant residential growth in Northern/Western Lake County over the past several years and a large percentage of those residents needing to commute south and/or east for work, it seems that a significant effort now has the potential to create quite a public buzz in favor of the extension. Further, doesn't the state already own virtually all/a good portion of the land needed to complete the extension (as marked by the FAP 342 signs)?

I'm also aware that there are one or two key villages (representing a very small percentage of the surrounding population) who have always strongly opposed the extension, but in reality, any project will always have some percentage of resistors to change, no matter how important it is to the overall surrounding communities affected. I believe the same was the case for the 355 south extension for some time. Additionally, I have seen a wide variety of elected officials (both Democrat and Republican) whose jurisdiction's are directly affected, as well as personally spoken to residents I work with who live in the immediate vicinity of the one or two key villages opposing, who strongly support the extension.

At your earliest convenience, if you could let me know your thoughts on these recent articles and any possibilities that you think may exist now that haven't over the past several years, that would be great. As you've probably noticed, I'm very passionate, yet frustrated about the decades of delays for this extension. It's one of the most overwhelmingly obvious proposed extension projects needing completion that I'm aware of and would like to see it fianlly happen. Lastly, I realize funding has been brought up as a big issue (understandably), however, where did the $700-$800 million come from to enable the I-355 extension to be constructed (within a few years time no less)?

120 Project Status Update

Recently I got an update from Transcom and the Lake County Department of Transportation on the status of the Illinois Route 120 Corridor Feasibility Study. We have a variety of task forces working on the project and this is an approximation of where we are.

Public Information Task Force

• Public Information Task Force leading the majority of the work with assistance from Lake County Partners Potential Task Force meeting to be scheduled for November

Environmental & Stormwater Impact Task Force

• Initial data collection completed including GIS from all task forces Data reviewed and base maps created Field visits by TranSystems and Roux scheduled for October 23 to evaluate sensitive environmental resources.

Land Use, Economic Development & Municipal Impact Task Force

• Reviewing data collection and task force studies Field visits by TranSystems and Lakota with Task Force Chair Dennis Sandquist scheduled for October 19 to discuss land use studies

Technical Task Force

• Received traffic data from County
  
• Requested traffic data from IDOT
  
• Traffic counts for the eastern portion of the corridor completed prior to IL 120 at I-94 construction began
  
• Traffic counts for the western portion of the corridor began after the completion of the Fairfield / Gilmer interchange and to be completed by October 18
  
• Met with CMAP regarding CMAP preparing regional traffic models for various scenarios
• Existing 2030 projected with LCTIP IL 53 expressway option and with IL 120 Bypass
  
• 2030 projected with LCTIP IL 53 arterial option and with IL 120 Bypass 2030 projected without IL 53 and with IL 120 Bypass
  
• 2030 projected without IL 53 and without IL 120 Bypass CMAP has completed the existing model and one of the four projected models and estimates completion of the final three projected models by the end of November
  

• TranSystems has begun creating sub-regional traffic models based on CMAP regional traffic models calibrated to provided traffic data and counts
  
• Character of Road studies to move forward after further traffic, land use, and financing studies
  
• Placement of Road studies to move forward after further character of road and environmental studies

LA Can't Drive

I came across this website in one of my late night surfing trips and thought it was quite funny. I know many of us can identify with whats going on here. I think that LA is a bit more extreme then some of the goofiness we see here in Lake County. Careful there is some salty language on here