Travel Performance of the IL 53 and IL 83/US 45 (with US 12) Alternatives

The travel benefits of the IL 53 and IL 83/US 45 (with US 12) alternatives have been assessed in more detail. The analysis takes into account the additional growth that could occur as a result of implementing either alternative (Population Growth Due to Finalist Roadway Alternatives). The following transportation measures have been developed to assess how well each alternative responds to the LCTIP purpose and need.

Travel time savings is a measure of the total hours (annual) each alternative will save area motorists for all trips that begin and end in Lake, Northern Cook and/or McHenry Counties during the afternoon rush hour in the year 2020. The savings, about 19 million hours annually for each alternative, generally equates to 33 hours per year per Lake County motorist.

Uncongested north-south travel

The predominant direction of travel in Lake County is north-south. This measure looks at the number of lane miles that would be uncongested during the afternoon rush hour in the year 2020. IL 53 does a slightly better job at improving north-south travel.

Safety

An important consideration for any transportation improvement is reducing accident rates on the roadway system. Many of Lake County's roadways are reflective of its rural past. Those same roadways are now filled to capacity with traffic that coincides with the County's change to a suburban character. This congestion, as well as the types of roadways carrying this traffic, has an important relationship to accident rates. Based upon trends occuring in Lake County and research at the national level, the LCTIP has analyzed the safety performance of the two finalist alternatives. The results of this analysis indicate that the IL 53 option does a better job at improving safety, due to its ability to attract travel to safer roadways.