Rethink the way we build roads

This letter of comment in response to the Daily Herald’s editorial of Jan. 24 titled, “The Worst traffic nightmare in the U.S.” Only in Chicagoland, do they still build new highways and tollways in an inadequate, two-lane-in-each-direction configuration. These new byways are practically overwhelmed just after being opened. For instance, on the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway, rush hour is a joke. If even a fender bender takes place, many times the highway is shut down until police can relocate or remove the involved vehicles.

I have traveled to all of the lower forty-eight states, and no other states choose to construct a new roadway in this manner. Drivers always know when they are back in Illinois because there are generally poor road conditions and too frequent and high tolls.

Tom Newton

Mount Prospect