Mixed news on tollway's next moves
Two stories in two days, highlighting a major concern for suburban residents: transportation.
The two stories, both written by Daily Herald staff writer Joseph Ryan, also highlight the conundrum of paying for transportation and planning for future growth.
First, the somewhat good news. The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority approved a new two-year construction plan. Tollway authorities indicate that no new toll hikes will be necessary until 2016, a good thing since they were just increased in 2005 to help pay for the construction needed on the system.
Many suburban areas will see some traffic relief once the new construction projects are done: I-355 will get an extra lane between 75th Street and I-88; I-88 will get another lane east of Aurora; a full interchange will be built at Eola Road and I-88; and the Tri-State Tollway won't get new lanes but will be surfaced.
The tollway has been in construction mode as of late. The extension of I-355 from I-55 to I-80 is set to open this fall. It was part of the original $3.5 billion plan approved two years ago.
One big omission, however, in this year's plan is that the Northwest Tollway will not get an extra lane between the Kennedy Expressway and Elgin. It may well be another decade, in fact, before that happens, because the toll authority wants to wait in case the STAR Line is built by Metra along the tollway. The STAR Line is just in the planning stages.
"It would be silly for us to rebuild and widen a road just to tear it up again," said tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis.
Indeed it would. But given Metra's financial plight this year, along with Pace and the CTA, it may be wishful thinking that a new line will get built within the next decade. But a new lane on the tollways may be needed soon if fare hikes and schedule changes move train and bus commuters back to their cars.
That's the subject of Ryan's second story. He quotes 21-year-old Emily Stoner, "Where are people supposed to go? How are people supposed to get around in the suburbs? They should find the money somewhere."
The "they" she refers to are the governor and state legislators, who have yet to figure out how to deal with a $240 million budget shortfall at the three transit agencies. We have urged them several times this year to solve these issues.
We do so again, knowing full well that the executive and legislative branches have a long way to go to reach consensus on how to raise the needed money. Right now a plan to increase the sales tax in the collar counties by a half-cent is being discussed, but it is far from passage.
It's time for our elected leaders to step up and deal with this issue. Or we agree with Jim Reilly, chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority, who warns the cuts and fare hikes planned would create a "downward spiral" by leading to fewer riders (and more on the streets) and, in turn, less money for the transit agencies.