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The Illiana Expressway Feasibility Study was released to Indiana lawmakers on June 30. The study was conducted between December, 2007 and February, 2008. Barbara Sloan, midwest regional manager for Cambridge Systematic Inc. presented an overview of the study at the Chicago Southland Economic Development Quarterly Forum held at Flossmoor Village Hall July 24. Sloan was promoted to principal at her firm on June 29. The three firms who were finalist to do the study were PB America, Inc. of New York, Smith Associates, Inc. of Cambridge, South Carolina and Cambridge Systematics of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The study allegedly was commissioned by Illinois and Indiana, but it looks as though Indiana is taking the lead on this; even though Illinois has more of the footprint. The Illinois presence increases more if the movement to extend the Illiana from Interstate 57 to Interstate 55 succeeds. The Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois legislators have been absent in this debate. Obviously, our many local planning agencies, consultant firms and our two state departments of transportations could not undertake this study. Cambridge Systems, Inc. outsourced some of the work to six other firms, which also were not local. Sloan reported that 21 agencies at the federal, state, county and regional levels were involved in the study.
All study participants expressed strong support for the Illiana Expressway. Woefully missing from the study is input from local citizens. These are the folks whose homes, farms and businesses will be affected. Why would we put the new expressway responsibilities in the hands of the same people who sold the Chicago Skyway, the Indiana Toll Road and other major traditional assets? Is it the value proposition - build it with public dollars and when you need money, sell it? Too many of our infrastructure assets are being sold or leased to foreign companies. The study looked at the usual safety, travel time, economics, environmental, accessibility, connectivity and regional consistency issues. If you build it, will they come? There is no guarantee that drivers, especially truck drivers, will transition to the new road. As management guru, Stephen Covey says, ''begin with the end in mind.'' The amount of toll charges would greatly affect traffic volumes. Some say the Illiana Expressway was included in the Burnham Plan for Chicago and cite it as we celebrate the centennial of one of the premier planning documents of all time. The Burnham Plan was funded by the Commercial Club of Chicago, a group of business owners; not public funds. Daniel Burnham was focused on parks, the lakefront, transportation system integration and recreation. Burnham's transportation included railroads, the Chicago River, Lake Michigan, the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Illinois River. Burnham's roadway around Chicago started in Southeast Wisconsin and followed the Fox River, Kankakee River, DuPage River and DesPlaines River west around Chicago through Will County and Northwest Indiana. This road then went through Gary and ended at Lake Michigan. The Illiana Expressway and Burnham Plan similarities are somewhat of a stretch. Burnham's highway was a dual road separated by grass and trees. One road was a work road for heavy loads and the other road was a pleasure road for relaxed scenic driving. Burnham said, ''Highways should parallel railroads.'' The Borman Expressway flooding during heavy rains is often cited as a reason for the Illiana Expressway. Should we reward the folks who built the new Borman Expressway, which floods and shuts down for days; with the opportunity to build a new expressway? The study also looked at crash data and congestion if nothing is done, the Peotone Airport, travel times with and without the Illiana and the impact on inter-modal facilities in Crete and Joliet. The lack of public input is a major concern for a project of this magnitude. In these days of texting, Twitter, My Space and You Tube, this 300-page study is not going to be read by many of the general public. Too often, the work product outcome is based on weight. The cost of this study is not readily available. Cornell Hudson is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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