With the Lake County Fairgrounds ready to move ahead with relocation plans to Peterson Road, isn't it time to dust off plans for Route 53?
Certainly, traffic planners don't expect two-lane roads to handle fair traffic on a daily basis, let alone the other events held at the current fairgrounds at routes 45 and 120? Or do they? After all, Lake County motorists have been putting up with crowded highways, byways, expressways, city, county, township and village roads for the past two decades.
So, where's the pro-Route 53 folks when you really need them? Where's the push for an open-road tollway from Lake-Cook Road to Route 120, with a stop in-between at a Route 83 or Peterson Road interchange? The state is finishing up the south end of the Interstate 355 section to link up with Interstate 80.
What are we waiting for? The new fairgrounds is a logical destination for folks from southern Lake County and northern Cook County. Let's get with it!
The past two decades? Try four. At least.
Down here where I live, there's a little thing called the Mid-County Bridge. This project has been in the planning/developing/consulting stage for about twenty years, if not longer. Every so often, the Department of Transportation, the Army Corps of Engineers and local officials "dust off" the bridge, which is vital for (a) commuting and (b) evacuation in the event of a hurricane, and the next thing you know, there are more environmental studies and consulting fees and public polls, and...
In short, don't look for an answer - or solution - any time soon.
THE HOUND SAYS: Irene, when they "dust off" the bridge I hope they also inspect it. After the Minnesota bridge collapse, I thought for sure President Bush would institute a "bridge surge" building new bridges, repairing the old ones. Guess that will have to wait until after we leave Iraq!
WE DO NOT NEED RT.53, THE FAIRGROUNDS ONLY CREATE A PROBLEM FOR A FEW DAYS IN JULY. SO WHY SHOULD WE BE SPENDING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON A ROAD TO KNOW WHERE IN THE UPPER NORTHWEST COMMUNITY. WE NEED TO SPEND THE MONEY ON MASS TRANSIT.
THE HOUND SAYS: What county are you living in Linda? Do you think after a new venue is built that the ONLY thing they will use it for will be the county fair? Get real, girlfriend. They'll be concerts, antique shows, craft fairs, everything you can imagine, except probably gun shows. A tollway wouldn't be a road to nowhere. It would go to Grayslake where, it just so happens, that an upscale shopping center is planned on the site of the old fairgrounds. Coincidence? Perhaps. One more thing: Let's spend more money on mass transit so we can see empty buses driving around Lake County.