Creating a better vision for transportation in Lake County, Illinois

We are frequently asked, “What is a better plan for transportation in Lake County without the Rt. 53/120 extensions?”

Our goal is essentially for a multi-modal transportation plan that is modern, efficient, affordable, reduces our trip times, reduces the number of cars on the roads, preserves our critical environmental assets, enhances our our communities, keeps our air, water and lands clean, reduces our carbon emissions and positions Lake County to be competitive in a 21st Century economy.  It is a false choice to say we can have either economic development and congestion relief or protect our open spaces and communities. It is absolutely possible and is being done all around the country. We are working together with our coalition partners, the Lake County Board, our municipalities as well as state and federal government to achieve our goals.

Here are some specific ideas we have laid out in a ever evolving list of possibilities:

• Model ordinances for sustainable community design in Lake County, including:
  • Complete Streets walkable & bikable communities   
  • Active Transportation policies
  • Transportation enterprise zones (including Transit Oriented Development)
  • Strategic routes linked to county urban centers.
• Improvements for our current roads and infrastructure such as:
  • Widening, improving intersections and improving current roads (such as Il State Rts: 83, 120, 60, 45, 22, 12, 176 and 173 as well as major arterial roads likeMidlothian Rd.)
  • More grade separations (separating train tracks from roads) such as at 120 & 83, Rt. 60 and Diamond Lake Road, Rt. 60 near Butterfield Rd. Gilmer and Old McHenry
  • Modernizing and improving transportation technology
  • Creative traffic flow enhancements like no left turns during certain hours
• Improved and increased public transit options, considering:
  • Increased access to public transit: on-demand ride services and other new technologies.
    • Implementing park-and-ride bus connections and bus connections from Metra stations to local commercial and office park centers
  • Extended options, operating times and increased routes
  • Improved facilities such as bus platforms, shelters and train stations
  • Electrification of all transit
  • Bus Rapid Transit
  • Increased train service, considering:
    • EJ&E commuter service
    • Expanded North Central Metra Service
    • Routes extended up to Winthrop Harbor and Zion
    • Electrified rail
    • Expanding CN rail line to establish Metra Commuter Service in the southwestern part of the county (Near south end of corridor and current 53 terminus)
    • Insure that Metra is fully funded and can complete the long overdue improvements to rail lines in Lake County
  • Support non-vehicular modes of transportation
  • Support policies to reduce Single Occupancy Vehicles (SOV’s)
• Subsidizing on-demand ride services (like Über and Lyft) for those underserved by paratransit
• Creating regional, intermodal infrastructure improvements such as connections between modes of transit, bicycle infrastructure and walking paths
• Transportation Demand Management, considering:
  • Incentivize employees to live within 5 miles of where they work
  • Incentivize ride-sharing and public transit use
  • Offer more telecommuting
  • Offer staggered shifts
• Creation of Transportation Corridors and Enterprise Zones
  • Greater impact fees on developments that fall outside of transportation zones
  • Focus limited transportation spending in constrained Enterprise Zones.
• Increased access to vehicle charging stations

If you’d like to be updated on our work, you can subscribe to our newsletter: http://www.midwestsustainability.org/newsletter/

In your daily travels, please feel free to send us your suggestions for improvements you’d like to see.  Please send all ideas to info@midwestsustainability.org