Monthly Archives: March 2025

Illinois Ranks 36th For Roads In Annual Highway Study

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The Reason Foundation released their 28th annual highway study this week, and Illinois ranked number 36 out of 50 for the quality of roads throughout the state. Last year Illinois was ranked 29th. This is a surprisingly low ranking despite having the second highest gas tax (66 cents per gallon) for highway infrastructure.

The foundation’s highway study  grades state roadway conditions on several factors, including pavement conditions, urban congestion, structurally deficient bridges, fatality rates, and cost. This is what the report specifically had to say about Illinois:  “In safety and condition categories, Illinois’ highways rank 37th in urban Interstate pavement condition, 29th in rural Interstate pavement condition, 34th in urban arterial pavement condition, 42nd in rural arterial pavement condition, 38th in structurally deficient bridges, 21st in urban fatality rate, and 16th in rural fatality rate.”

Illinois ranks 46th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend 65 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion, the report said.

This is ranking is discouraging based on the amount of money taxpayers pay is gasoline tax. I will play a little devils advocate and say that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel for Illinois drivers. The final phase of the Kennedy expressway construction project in Chicago will be completed this fall. Once completed, one would hope that some of the traffic congestion in the Chicagoland area will decrease, and will hopefully move Illinois up in the rankings. We will have to wait and see.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Chicago traffic accident or Chicago truck accident then call the Chicago accident attorneys at The Bryant Law Group, LLC, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or go to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.

Phase 3 Of Kennedy Expressway Construction To Start Next Week

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The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) announced yesterday that the third and final phase of the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94) in Chicago was start on March 17 and last through the fall. The construction take place on the outbound side of the I-90/94 from the Edens Expressway junction to Ohio Street.

Two mainline outbound lanes will be closed at a time. IDOT said during the construction, the reversible mid-gate entrance and exit will be closed. This means drivers who enter the express lanes will not be able to exit until they reach the Edens Expressway at Foster Avenue.

The expresslanes will be closed to inbound drivers coming from O’Hare airport to downtown. They announced that the project will be completed by Thanksgiving 2025.

Be sure to plan ahead if you need to take the Kennedy as there will be traffic backups for the next 6 months. This is nothing new as the first 2 phases of construction have shut down lanes (and the expresslanes) off an on for the last 2 years.

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call the Chicago personal injury attorneys at the Bryant Law Group for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or go directly to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.

Lake County Adding Traffic Safety Measures For St. Patrick’s Day Weekend

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St. Patrick’s Day is a little over a week away but the festivities begin next weekend throughout the Chicagoland area. The Lake County Sherrif’s Department is planning ahead as they announced extra traffic safety and enforcement for the entire weekend.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Illinois State Police and Illinois Department of Transportation for the “St. Patrick’s Day Traffic Safety Campaign,” which includes the strict enforcement of seat belt use, speeding, distracted driving and all traffic laws.

The St. Patrick’s Day traffic safety campaign is funded by federal traffic safety funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered by IDOT, which provides law enforcement to add extra patrols to work high traffic weekends like St. Patrick’s Day. As I have written multiple times, this is part of form president Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill passed back in 2022.

If you are going out to celebrate for St. Patrick’s Day, please have a sober driver or call a rideshare company to get you to and from your parties. If you are driving please take extra care and be aware of your surroundings.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago traffic accident or Chicago truck accident, then call the Illinois injury attorneys at the Bryant Law Group, LLC. for a free legal consultation or go directly to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.

Oak Law Police Department Receives Federal Traffic Safety Grant

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The Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn police department announced this week that they received a federal grant for fiscal year 2025 Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (“STEP”) grant. The money, which is from form president Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastracture bill, will provide funding for additional law enforcement during hight traffic weekends, speficially holidays.

The additional enforcement will allow Oak Law police to implement different programs like ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,’ ‘Click It or Ticket,’ and ‘Drive High, Get a DUI.’”

The grant year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, enables Oak Lawn Police Department to conduct additional enforcement operations, particularly during high-risk periods. These operations will focus on dangerous behaviors that contribute to crashes, such as speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, failure to yield, disobeying traffic signals and seat belt violations.

We have seen these grants approved for police departments throughout Illinois. The extra enforcement is incredibly helpful to smaller police forces as they have to deal with high levels of traffic on certain weekends. Illinois has seen an uptick in traffic fatalities since the covid pandemic adn extra law enforcement attempting to weed out dangerous driving behavior will hopefully make the streets safer for all of us.

If you or a loved has been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Illinois truck accident, then call the Chicago accident attorneys at the Bryant Law Group for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or go directly to our website at www.blgchicago.com.

Chicago To Add 50 New Speed Cameras Around City

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Multiple new outlets, including WGN News, report last week that the Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) plans to install 50 new speeder cameras around the city. CDOT spokespeoples have not announced specific locations but they will take into consideration crash data from different busy intersections and stretches of road along with requests from alderpeople. By state law, cameras can only be within 660 feet of a school or a park. These 50 new cameras will bring the total to 200 in the city.

These cameras have been scrutenized from the very beginning when they were installed under former mayor Rahm Emanual. Critics have called these cameras a crash grab by the city. I have yet to see any detailed studies that they have decreased the number of car crashes in the areas where the cameras were installed.

I think it is fair to point out that current mayor, Brandon Johnson, has at least been up front that the cameras are being installed to help revenue for the city: Mayor Brandon Johnson said revenue from the cameras would help, in part, to generate $11 million needed to restore more than 160 police positions tied to the consent decree and would make up less than one-tenth of one percent of the 2025 budget.

Though, he is denying that the new cameras are being installed to balance th city budget. “The City of Chicago does not rely on speed cameras to balance its budget…. Mayor Johnson believes that speed cameras should be utilized to promote traffic safety in an equitable way, not as a revenue source for the City.”

The CDOT spokesperson said 136 people were killed in traffic crashes on Chicago roadways in 2023. Speed was a factor in nearly 70 percent of those crashes. CDOT will publicize the cameras’ locations before they’re activated. Drivers will be given a 30-day grace period once the new cameras are installed and receive a warning in the mail.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then call the Illinois injury attorneys at the Bryant Law Group for a free consultation at 312-614-1076 or go to the firm’s website a www.blgchicago.com.