Officials Look Toward Next Phase of I-290 Expansion

By Cate Flahardy

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is on its way to deciding what will come of the I-290 (the Eisenhower Expressway) expansion plan. And they’ve tentatively scheduled the next public meeting for sometime in September.

IDOT’s analysis of the potential future project commences in several phases. The first phase consisted of IDOT exploring what would happen if it only made improvements to either the highway or the Blue Line. The second phase, which the department is wrapping up now, explores making improvements to both the Blue Line and the highway.

Like Oak Park-River Forest Patch on Facebook

IDOT in February began reviewing four proposals that would make I-290 more efficient between the Austin and Mannheim. All the plans include extending the Blue Line to Mannheim, widening the highway between Austin and Mannheim and extending bus service.

Rick Kuner, co-chair of Citizens for Appropriate Transportation—a citizen organization formed in response to the threat of expanding the Eisenhower Expressway—believes expanding the expressway is not in Oak Park’s best interest.

“Clearly a multi-motile solution extending the Blue Line to Mannheim and looking at land use transportation impacts makes the most sense,” Kuner said. “The Blue Line has far more people-carrying capacity than cars on an expressway.”

According to the Village of Oak Park, local officials and residents who have been following the process have criticized the state approach, which has focused on building a wider highway to improve I-290 traffic flow. 

Village officials say they are "particularly troubled" deficiencies in garnering public input on the process, according to the village.

"When residents have submitted comments, IDOT has been slow to respond, officials say, and the state has not provided routine and timely updates via the website they promoted as the interactive portal for public collaboration."

IDOT is planning to hold a public meeting sometime in September to gather comments from Oak Park residents. For more information about the Eisenhower expansion, visit IDOT and Citizens for Appropriate Transportation.