Hoping for another lane? IDOT targets the Ike

The Eisenhower Expressway and I go way back. It's one of those dysfunctional relationships.

I've driven the Ike through two excruciating resurfacing projects and one record heat wave in 1995 that I'll always associate with the smell of burning cars on the shoulder. I've driven the Ike in the days of former Gov. George Ryan's billboard promising to “fix” the Hillside Strangler. That sure turned out well.

I give and I give and what does the Ike do? It teases me with a fast ride all the way to Central Avenue and then it smacks me with a gnarly traffic jam as four lanes shrink to three around Austin Boulevard.

I'd like to dump the Eisenhower, but for many of us in DuPage and Kane counties, it's the only game in town when you need to drive to Chicago.

So that's why I'm thrilled the Illinois Department of Transportation is studying how to improve the expressway.

“The pavement and bridges are too old,” IDOT project manager Peter Harmet said at a public hearing Wednesday. “The design is out of date. There are safety concerns and congestion concerns.”

Or as J. Pienkos of Villa Park put it, “I dread it.”

IDOT is contemplating 170 proposals to fix the Ike, many suggested by the public. The one getting the most attention is adding a lane in each direction to fix the bottleneck roughly located between Austin Boulevard in Oak Park and Wolf Road in Hillside.

That makes sense for most Ike drivers.

“My opinion is you need to add a couple more lanes,” Pienkos said.

“It should've been widened 40 years ago,” Tom Anderson of Hillside said.

But widening could take up to 20 feet in each direction and if you live in Oak Park like Robert Peterson, that means “taking homes or the conservatory or the bank where I bank. We don't need to accommodate more cars. You need a lot more public transit,” he said.

Harmet is IDOT's point man on a number of contentious projects including Willow Road improvements and the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway extension. “There are 170 options,” was his mantra during the Ike hearing.

Those include creating a carpool lane along the Eisenhower or allowing for congestion pricing — where drivers pay a fee for using an express lane.

Planners also are considering fixing some of the decrepit and aged interchanges, like left-turn exits and entrances at Harlem and Austin.

Public transit options involve extending the Blue Line west from its terminus in Forest Park out to Oak Brook or to Yorktown in Lombard, or an express bus service.

There are also proposals for bike lanes and pedestrian paths.

So what do you think? IDOT is accepting comments through Wednesday and I am accepting comments continually at mpyke@dailyherald.com. For more information, check out the website Eisenhowerexpressway.com.

Did you know?

The Eisenhower Expressway is congested nearly all day — up to 17 hours, IDOT estimates. It's experienced more than 6,000 accidents in three years. Trouble spots include eastbound at Mannheim Road and at 25th Street and westbound at 25th Street. The eastbound problems occur when a frontage road leading to Mannheim merges into the highway.

Your voice

I asked In Transit nation for thoughts on distracted driving. As always, you came through. Cyndi Kehoe of Elk Grove Village writes, “I have seen numerous incidents of drivers weaving in and out of lanes, missing stop signs, and actually rear-ending the car in front of them all because of distracted driving. I work in a suburban high school and see people driving around the school talking on their phones all the time, even though the new law makes that illegal. Many students do not take it seriously at all, many are the same ones who do not use seat belts, either, and what is even worse, their parents don't take it seriously, either. I still hope that the laws will change to make the use of phones IN ANY WAY, even hands free, illegal. It is not just the other driver, it is you.”

Gridlock alert

Enjoy driving on Washington Street this week, Grayslake. Because starting May 31, the street will be closed at the CN Railroad tracks for five days for repairs. The detour route is Route 83 to Rollins Road to Hainesville Road.

One more thing

Justin Bonny, 7, got the ride of his life recently when he got behind the controls of a Metra train simulator as part of a Make-A-Wish event. Justin, who has myopathy — a disorder that causes muscle weakness — wanted to interact with trains as his wish. The Bolingbrook boy was a guest conductor on his ride home on the Oliver “Ollie” Tibbles Metra train, named for another Make-A-Wish child.