After crashes, construction-free stretch of Edens Spur could be...

The spot where it merges into one lane just before joining the Edens has always been a trouble spot -- it should have two lanes merging onto Edens at this point and widen the Edens to accept it. There are two lanes to go west bound - why not two east? And they are not "going to" reconfigure it -- it was already done this morning. Right after Waukegan it merges into one lane and has orange cones set up. It doesn't solve the problem, just moves it.

So, in essence, there is now a construction zone from the WI/IL state line to downtown Chicago. Awesome. Is there any major road in Chicago that is currently not under construction?
I don't want to pi*s and moan, I understand they're improving roadways, but how 'bout a little foresight? Oh, that's right, it's the govenrment who plans these things.

How about this solution? Slow down!

Whatever they do, hurry up and DO it. Today. How can the traffic experts responsible for this not have foreseen the confusion and accidents it would cause?

Here's a crazy question... Why does the Edens spur merge into 3 lanes coming from US-41??? The 3rd lane comes into existence right before the spur merges, and there's not enough traffic from US-41 to justify 3 lanes. Why not just close one lane down from US-41 so the Edens can have its own lane without the need to merge? Or (a less ideal solution), close one lane from US-41 and have 2 lanes come off the Edens spur and have the left lane merge into traffic while the right lane gets its own lane.(This is the setup at the I-90/94 merge).

For all the construction we must constantly endure, why are our roads so bad? Is there any paving technology that can create a road that lasts more than 5 years without major roadwork being done?

Has anyone noticed that there's been a semi involved in every single one of these accidents? How about NO TRUCKS on the spur or the Edens until construction on both are complete?

I was on the Tri-State yesterday and it still amazes me how many trucks were in the left lane even though there were plenty of signs telling trucks to be in the right lanes. So what part of "Trucks Keep to the Two Right Lanes" do they not understand?

resident wrote:

Whatever they do, hurry up and DO it. Today. How can the traffic experts responsible for this not have foreseen the confusion and accidents it would cause?

Consider who is doing the planning. That should explain why there's nothing planned safely.

megc629 wrote:

How about this solution? Slow down!

Right on! That's the simplest and most direct method of improving this situation. I couldn't agree more.

Of course, we live in a country where we feel we are entitled to do and have anything we want soooooooo...might be a hard sell-in.

Pete wrote:

For all the construction we must constantly endure, why are our roads so bad? Is there any paving technology that can create a road that lasts more than 5 years without major roadwork being done?

Have you never heard of 'planned obsolencence'?(sp)

Read up on it and you will understand everything you need to know about a Capatilistic society.

MeMeMe wrote:

Has anyone noticed that there's been a semi involved in every single one of these accidents? How about NO TRUCKS on the spur or the Edens until construction on both are complete?
I was on the Tri-State yesterday and it still amazes me how many trucks were in the left lane even though there were plenty of signs telling trucks to be in the right lanes. So what part of "Trucks Keep to the Two Right Lanes" do they not understand?

Your moniker says it all...

Why in the name of all that is holy does IDOT not expand the single lane into two lanes? Taking a major, coast-to-coast highway down to one lane is the worst design decision I have ever seen. It is ugly, non-functional, and wrong.

and someone thinks this is a good idea?
it stinks
maybe people need to slow down and more officers on the road instead of sleeping in a parking lot

To the questions about why the work is happening every 5 years. Many of these roads are 50 years old with original concrete that old. These roads are handling twice or so the traffic they were designed for. You get to a point where the base you are applying the new asphalt to is so poor, the new asphalt lasts shorter and shorter.

The good news is that many of the recent projects are complete rebuilds with new concrete. This inculdes the western end of I-290, most of the many miles of widening work on I-294, the Dan Ryan, the work being done on the tollway secton of I-94 this year, the work bring done on I-88 the year, and the rebuild some years ago of 90/94 north of the circle to the split of 90/94. It should be a few decades before they require any major resurfacing and those resurfacings should last longer. If you want proof, look at the original section of I-355. Most of that has not been resurfaced since it opened in 1988.

or they could allow the merge to stay 2 lanes onto southbound Edens. Why should southbound 41 have 3 lanes through this merge when there is so much more traffic coming from 294? It appears as though the merge used to be 2 lanes and the bridge is wide enough for 2 lanes.

Having never traveled the Edens Spur (and after all these horrific accidents, I fear I never will want to), I'm unfamiliar with the road. What I am familiar with, however, is the simple concepts of obeying traffic laws. If these people (and it appears each time it's been a huge semi at fault here) would just slow down and be aware of their surroundings, these accidents may not have happened in the first place.

I love traffic wrote:

So, in essence, there is now a construction zone from the WI/IL state line to downtown Chicago. Awesome. Is there any major road in Chicago that is currently not under construction?
I don't want to pi*s and moan, I understand they're improving roadways, but how 'bout a little foresight? Oh, that's right, it's the govenrment who plans these things.

And not only that, every N-S side street that could conceivably be an alternate to the Edens is also under construction i.e. Sheridan Rd, Ridge. How could this North-South situation be any worse? Only if the Red Line was also under constr--- oh! That is under construction too.

we've read about investigations into pharmaceutical companies non-disclosure and failure to correct known adverse reactions to their products as well as similar probes for tobacco, financial and industrial organizations. How about an investigation into IDOT's failure to address this known Edens Spur problem? Should they be exempt from scrutiny and liability for this design flaw?

dave wrote:

Why in the name of all that is holy does IDOT not expand the single lane into two lanes? Taking a major, coast-to-coast highway down to one lane is the worst design decision I have ever seen. It is ugly, non-functional, and wrong.

One reason, I'm sure a big one, is that you have two different governmental agencies involved. One is the Illinois Tollway Authority that manages the Edens Spur, the other is IDOT which is responsible for the Edens.

I think a 3-Prong Solution will help during this construction project.

1- Enforcement-More Police Patrol's and a physical police presence at this "merge" during the construction process.

2 - Better Signage and Warning Devices. An electronic sign that would display the speed of traffic ahead, could display SLOW DOWN and the speed ahead. Something to that extent.

3 - More Inter-Agency planning in the future. ITA (tollway authority) should have seen this coming. And if they didn't these accidents should be a wake-up call for future traffic planning during construction season.

Just my two cents.

I think even if they expand and make it 2 lanes there will still be accidents. People don't know how to A) Slow down and B) Merge correctly.

Folks are rude and impatient and there some people driving should not be. They must have paid someone off to get a license.