New Study Shows Economic and Traffic Benefits of Chicago’s I-290 Expansion

I wrote earlier this week about Chicago’s traffic congestion woes. The city is currently the second worst for major U.S. and cities and 6th worst wordwide. Some interesting tidbits came out of that story, including the proposed expansions of I-290 and I-55 discussed by the Illinois Department of Transportation head. According to the site Roads & Bridges, a recent study for the 290 expansion would benefit Chicago drastically both economically and in traffic congestion.

The Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) just released a study stating that the $2.7 billion project, which combines both transit and pedestrian improvements alongside bridge and roadway upgrades, is projected by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) to provide amongst the best economic, equity, and traffic impacts of any project in the region by 2050 “The I-290 corridor is vital multi-modal infrastructure that’s needed to connect the western suburbs and southern Cook County with the City of Chicago, but it has far exceeded its design life and become one of the most congested and dangerous thoroughfares in the region,” stated ILEPI Transportation Director and study author Mary Tyler. “That said, its proposed modernization represents one of the region’s greatest opportunities to create jobs, reduce traffic burdens, and alleviate the economic access burdens facing disadvantaged communities.”

The proposed I-290 reconstruction project incorporates not only bridge and highway upgrades—including a new High Occupancy Toll lane (HOT3+) to support Express Bus service and promote carpooling—but also wider sidewalks, pedestrian safety islands, high visibility crosswalks, lighting, and signals to better facilitate pedestrian/bicycle traffic and transit riders.

A concurrent CTA project would upgrade Blue Line facilities, including reconstruction of the entire Forest Park Branch as well as stations from UIC-Halsted to Forest Park and six substations. 

The study examined the potential overall economic impact of the project, concluding that it would create nearly 22,000 new jobs paying an average of almost $80,000 per year, while growing the economy by more than $2.6 billion and boosting local, state, and federal tax revenues by more than $450 million.

What’s not to like about this project? It would hopefully finally start to free up one of the tightest and slowest commutes in and out of the city to the western suburbs (I-290) and create thousands of well paying jobs. The reporting has not said exactly where the funding will come from, but I would make a strong guess that Illinois’ portion from the recent $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill would be earmarked for this project.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then please call the Chicago injury attorneys at The Bryant Law Group for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Illinois Traffic Accidents and Congestion Increasing Despite Covid-19 Shutdown

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected almost every industry, the public sector and pretty much all aspects of our lives. When the pandemic started and the shelter in place order was announced by Governor JB Pritzker, traffic congestion and car accidents decreased dramatically.

The state slowly began opening back up again and traffic levels have increased in Chicago and throughout the state. They are still not and pre-pandemic levels, but as you drive around the city you are seeing much more congestion and the numbers back it up, which has been the reason for more car accidents.

Despit the record low levels of traffic from March through May, the Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) has reported 786 fatalities in vehicle crashes, a 16-person increase from 770 on Oct. 11, 2019.

This is an unusual trend that IDOT spokeswoman, Maria Castaneda, tried to explain recently: “While we can’t speculate and don’t know all the reasons why the overall numbers are aligning from last year with fewer cars on the roads, anecdotally we have noticed an increase in higher speeds,” C

Illinois State Police Sgt. Christopher Wilson added, “it is extremely difficult to make assumptions as to traffic trends, and even more difficult in these unprecedented times as we have no frame of reference to compare.”

So we are seeing more traffic on the road but not nearly as much as last year, yet Illinois traffic fatalities are at a higher rate than a year ago. According to a car accident lawyer, motorists are driving faster than normal, and are thus putting themselves in a much more dangerous situations. I would like to see more analysis than what IDOT has provided so we can understand why accidents, including deaths, have not gone down despite less traffic on the road. Do these accidents involve distracted drivers or texting and driving? Hopefully IDOT will provide us with a better understanding by the end of the year.

If you or a loved one was seriously injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago injury lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or contact us through our website at www.blgchicago.com.

IDOT Releases April Traffic Numbers

Anyone who looks out their windows or gets in their cars and drives around Chicago’s expressways can see that motorist traffic is a fraction of what it was two (2) months ago. The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) confirmed what we see everyday as they released April traffic numbers. No surprise, they are way down.

According to IDOT traffic on Chicago area expressways was down anywhere from 29 to 45 percent this April compared with April 2019. IDOT said that on the Kennedy Expressway, the number of work week inbound vehicles dropped from 1.1 million vehicles to 626,000, a 45 percent drop. Statewide traffic is estimated to be down about 37 percent. Illinois Toll Highway Authority said April saw a reduction fo 55 percent in traffic volume, resulting in $52 million less in tolls than expected

For essential workers or those who choose to go into their offices are obviously seeing much faster commute times. According to IDOT the outbound evening rush hour are an average of 21 to 24 minutes faster. 

IDOT to not release any information regarding Illinois traffic accidents for April.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron J. Bryant for a free legal consultation. If you’re looking for a great charter bus transportation for long trips, try Harmon Bros Trailways Services.

How To Prepare For Thanksgiving Travel Week

According to AAA, the 2019 Thanksgiving Holiday will be the busiest travel week of all time. AAA estimates more than 55 million travelers this year. 49.3 million Americans are expected to travel by automobile, which would be the most since 2005 and a 2.8% increase from last year.

With that in mind the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Illinois State Police have provided the following travel tips, including what to bring with you before you hit the road. This is incredibly important this year as parts of central and southern Illinois could be hit with a couple different winter storms.

Cell phone and charger
• First aid kit
• Water and high-calorie, non-perishable food
• Boots, hats, gloves and extra clothing to keep dry
• Blanket
• Crank radio and flashlight
• Sack of sand or cat litter
• Shovel
• Windshield scraper and brush
• Tool kit and tow rope
• Booster cables
• Compass and road maps

Be careful this week if you are traveling by car to see family and friends. You could be faced with nasty weather along with an abnormal number of vehicles on the road.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago truck accident or Illinois traffic accident, then call Chicago accident attorney, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076

Illinois Tollways Is Partnering With Waze App

The Chicago Tribune reported last month that the Illinois Tollway will be partnering with the popular maps and traffic app Waze to create faster traffic alerts. Since February of this year the Illinois Tollway and Waze have been sharing its’ traffic data with each other. Waze has been sending info regarding traffic incidents such as debris on the road, stalls and potholes. The Illinois Tollway, for its’ part, has been sharing with Waze any incidents related to lane blockages, including crashes, stalls and the locations of Tollway help trucks.

All of this information from the Waze partnership is made available directly to the phones of Waze users. The moment one of the Tollway’s help trucks turns on its lights, a signal is sent directly to Waze notifying users of a stopped vehicle at that location. According to this report the costs of the partnership have been small, and involved tweaks to the Tollway’s web servers and other equipment.

This is an excellent example of the progress that can made from a partnership between the public and private sectors. The goal for both entities is to provide a safe and hopefully quicker commute for drivers. I will be interested in seeing any data as time progressives as to whether this partnership has helped decrease traffic accidents and traffic congestion.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an Illinois car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago personal injury lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.