Confusing sign meant as a general guide only, agency says

Q. I have a question about the sign just east of I-355 on eastbound Ogden Avenue in Downers Grove. There are two left-turn lanes for the on-ramp to the tollway. A green tollway sign on the south side of Ogden Avenue is divided in half by a white line down the middle of it. On the right side of the white line, the sign reads "I-355 north to the Northwest Suburbs," and on the left side of the white line, the sign reads, "I-88 west to Aurora." This makes the driver think they should get into the right-hand left-turn lane for I-355 north, and in the left-hand left-turn lane for I-88 west. But after the driver makes their left turn, the situation is exactly the opposite: the ramp to the Northwest suburbs is to the left, and to Aurora is to the right. This causes drivers to have to change lanes. Can this be fixed?

--J. B., Lisle

A. Jan Kemp, assistant press secretary for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, says the procedure is to put general guide signs on arterial roads leading up to their on-ramps, and the actual lane assignment signs on the ramps themselves.

"If we try to direct drivers into particular lanes before the on-ramp, it ends up getting too confusing," Kemp said.

The green sign on eastbound Ogden Avenue at I-355 is a general guide sign only, and not meant to direct drivers into a particular lane before the on-ramp.

Kemp admits, however, that the ramp is a bit unusual.

"There's only a handful of locations in the whole tollway system that uses a single ramp for more than one roadway," Kemp said.

"The eastbound Ogden Avenue ramp at I-355 just happens to be one of them."

The tollway authority happens to be starting a project to replace all its general guide signs on arterial roads across the state by the end of this year and will be replacing the signs on Ogden Avenue.

"We'll consider flipping the sign around to read the other way to help remove some of the confusion," Kemp said.

The sign still will be a general guide sign only, however, and the lane assignment signs still will be on the on-ramp itself.