Illiana Expressway

The Illiana Expressway is a proposed Interstate-standard highway between northern portions of the U.S. states of Illinois and Indiana. As of December 2006, it is proposed as a southern tolled alternate to Interstate 80/94 (Kingery and Borman expressways), U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 30. It is expected to be approximately 23 miles (37 km) in length; 10 miles (16 km) in Indiana, and 13 miles (21 km) in Illinois.cite web |url=http://www.in.gov/apps/utils/calendar/presscal?PF=aiin&Clist=10_52_17_59_12_57_28_24_82_95_47_37_102_40_167_108_7_23_30_15_82_82_82_16_153_154_155_156_50_3_122_82_100_81_61_119_22_106_34_13_166_90_14_35_31_2_118_33_25_45_43_120_11_96_8_39_89_165_36_27_9_82_21_62_97_64_46_168_6_54_99_38_126_63_26_1_3_4_6_11_16_61_806_195_196&Elist=87833 |title=Indiana and Illinois to study new highway connecting major interstates |date=December 12, 2006| author=Indiana Department of Transportation |accessdate=2006-12-13] The original Illiana Expressway proposal continued the highway east of I-65 for another 40 miles (64 km), passing through Valparaiso before turning northeast and terminating at I-94 near Michigan City. There is little public support for the section east of I-65, and plans for its construction have been tabled until public opinion of the highway becomes more favorable.

A preliminary engineering study will complete by 2009 and determine the exact alignment of the highway. As proposed, the corridor is expected to run from Interstate 57 in Illinois east through Beecher, Illinois. East of Lowell, Indiana, the highway will terminate at Interstate 65. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels earlier had proposed running the Illiana Expressway east of I-65, southeast of Valparaiso, Indiana and Westville, Indiana, with its terminus south of Michigan City, Indiana at Interstate 94, but scaled back that plan after local opposition.cite news|url=http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070324/LOCAL/70324005 |publisher=Indianapolis Star|date=2006-12-12|accessdate=2007-03-24 |title=Daniels drops Indy bypass plan] It is now planned to start at Interstate 65 and continue west into Illinois, through an area where it has more public support.

Shortly after the Illiana Expressway was announced, a group of citizens organized the opposition group Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Toll Road (CAPIT). [cite news |url=http://www.post-trib.com/news/250112,pilliana.article |author=Nance, Christin| publisher=Post-Tribune|title=Illiana Opposition Organizing|date=March 24, 2007|accessdate=2007-02-09]

Daniels wrote a letter to lawmakers explaining changes to the Illiana Expressway proposal:

cquote|Like you, I have been paying close attention to the vigorous public discussion around my proposal to explore new privately funded bypass roads in Northwest and Central Indiana. After legislative action to date, some forty public meetings, and lots of other open debate, it is clear to me that we are far from the degree of consensus that is necessary before embarking on major public works projects of high local impact.

Accordingly, I withdraw the suggestion that any action be taken on an Indiana Commerce Connector, or an Illiana Expressway east of I-65. Either of these ideas might benefit from further research, and I would welcome some form of that if your committees are so inclined. But the people of the affected areas have spoken clearly enough to persuade me that these ideas are, at best, premature.

By contrast, an Illiana bypass from I-65 west seems to be broadly supported and can, I hope, be given the chance to move forward.

I appreciate the citizenship of everyone who participated in these two debates. We must never be afraid to venture new ideas for fear of controversy; a state that does that will surely stagnate. But we must also never assume that every new idea is a good one, or imperative to act on immediately.

I hope that you will reshape the legislation along the above lines, but am happy to work with you on whatever approach you deem best for the interests of our state.

History

The Illiana Expressway would become the third east-west expressway to connect northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana. In 1953, the Kingery-Borman expressway combination opened. Initially part of Interstate 80, this route would become one of the most important coast-to-coast Interstate highways in the United States. The Chicago Skyway opened five years later, on April 16, 1958. [cite web |url=http://www.cookexpressways.com/chapter6.html |author=Plummer, Andy |date=2006-07 |accessdate=2006-12-18 |title=The Calumet Skyway Bridge] With the newly-opened Indiana Toll Road, the Skyway and Toll Road became a second coast-to-coast Interstate highway, as Interstate 90 ran through city of Chicago proper.

The Skyway-Toll Road combination paralleled the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and was a popular road until the Dan Ryan Expressway opened in 1962, with Interstate 94 providing a free route from Chicago to northwestern Indiana. For a brief time in the 1970s and 1980s, the city of Chicago considered tearing down the Skyway because of escalating maintenance costs and falling traffic volumes.

All of the expressways were predated in the 1920s and 1930s by a host of numbered U.S. Highways and other arterial routes. The Dunes Highway, which later became U.S. Route 12, proved to be the busiest road between Chicago and Detroit in the 1920s and 1930s. The Dunes Relief Road, which became U.S. Route 20, was built to draw traffic off the Dunes Highway. Both were supplanted by I-94 when it was completed from Detroit to Chicago. U.S. 6, originally Ridge Road through Highland and Munster, Indiana, was routed onto the new expressway. U.S. 30 (Lincoln Highway), running about convert|5|mi|km|0 south of I-80/94, was routed through Dyer and Merrillville.

With the increase in truck traffic over time, all of the east-west expressways and arterials are expected to reach current levels of congestion in 15 years – even with the current reconstruction of the Borman and Kingery expressways. Construction of the Illiana Expressway is expected to reduce truck traffic on U.S. 30 by 59 percent, and on I-80/94 by 22 percent.

References

External links

* http://www.no-illiana.com - Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Toll Road.
* http://nwi.com/illianaexpress - News about the Illiana Expressway project from Northwest Indiana Times.
* [http://christopherhedges.com/noilliana Illiana Expressway?] - A weblog offering news, opinion and commentary the Illiana Toll Road project.