Just saw the dreaded “Expect Delays” sign on Rt 59, just south of Montgomery Road, stating construction will start in a few days for 6 miles (!)

Any idea what this is? It better not be resurfacing...the concrete is in great condition.

This is gonna suck if they start closing lanes for the summer.

They were doin construction on Rt 59 like 7 years ago, around Warrenville.

Is this further up north or some shit?

The time to have built out 59 (at least from it's southern end to I-88) would have been back when they were buying land for 355. But the powers that be were still hell bent on pushing 355/290/53 north to hook up with 294. To insist that they needed two different north south roads to connect to I-80 would have risked getting none.

A friend of mine was doing ramp analyses for the eventual 390/Roselle Road interchange all the way back in 1986, and IDOT already had the right of way. To build 59 to an Interstate, they would have had to buy the land in the late 70s.

They wanted to continue north of Lake Cook Road and swing it northeast. I can't remember if it was supposed to end out towards Gurnee or closer to the Wisconsin border. But then too many people bought houses and that was the end of that.

They wanted to continue north of Lake Cook Road and swing it northeast. I can't remember if it was supposed to end out towards Gurnee or closer to the Wisconsin border. But then too many people bought houses and that was the end of that.

IIRC it was supposed to go up to Route 120 somewhere.
Long Grove was supposedly the main obstacle preventing that from happening.

Fairfield Rd could be consumed as part of a route 53 extension....still a lot of open space there. The problem is getting through Lake Zurich and Long Grove.

This was desperately needed...they missed their chance a long time ago.

We have a document written 250 years ago that still endures as the basis for our way of life but city planners couldnt look 25-50 years into the future and build 6,7,8 lane roads in the 50's and 60's.

We have a document written 250 years ago that still endures as the basis for our way of life but city planners couldnt look 25-50 years into the future and build 6,7,8 lane roads in the 50's and 60's.

Sometimes they try and we end up with glorious stretches of roads like I-180 down to Hennepin for no particular reason as the proposed industrial site never developed beyond a now
Closed steel works and an ethanol plant that doesn’t need a highway.

I-180 was developed in part because Illinois still had archaic truck weight limits. By making it an Interstate, they got to use the Federal limits (80,000 pounds on 5 axles). So then the road got overspecified to meet Federal standards.

That is a shitty road, I hate using it when visiting family in Peoria because there is never cell phone coverage. I'd much rather go south on I-39 and cut across from there on a state road.