Construction zone speed limits and tollway radar towers

[Somethings Fishy]

Rich Elitist wrote:

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That is probably the most laughable comment I've seen. In the article, it stated that the Edens was one of the highest ticketed areas.
Honestly, not everything is about race all the time. Talk to your shrink and realize that the problem is you, even if you are a dumb white guy.

"The most speeding tickets issued this year have been on the Edens Expressway, which is undergoing a resurfacing project, and on the Dan Ryan and Bishop Ford Freeway. The total for the three expressways is 935, Gutierrez said."

As you can see, the article mentions the Edens, Dan Ryan and Bishop Ford as receiving the most citations this year. Remarkable considering the Edens is the one with all the construction issues this year. Had they been having the same police presence as on the Dan Ryan last year, the Edens would certainly be well ahead.

[Tim]

enough already wrote:

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I-88 has been under major construction for what - the past 5 years or so?

It's taking forever because of poor planning by the tollway and their desire (perhaps lack of money?) to rebuild it in small chunks instead of all at once.

First, we had the rebuild and widening of the five miles between Naperville Rd and IL 59, which was in '04 and '05. Then we had Open Road Tolling at the Dixon, DeKalb, Meyers and York plazas in '05 and '06. Sometime in there, the stretch from US 30 to Aurora was rebuilt. Now it's everything else.

[Chicago Listener]

Ivon wrote:

The only ones contributing to a dangerous situation are those who speed and tailgate, regardless of the posted speeds, and cut others off, and abuse and mock and abuse those who obey the speed laws. Doug Snyder, you are one of the few who are doing the right thing. Other parts of the problem are police who stop people who are going the legal speed, when others are not, and warn them that they are not moving with traffic, when it's the multitude who make up that traffic that clearly in the wrong (yes, I knew a guy who was stopped for obeying the law in the express lanes downtown, when he was obeying the law, and everyone else was not.). Keep up doing the correct thing, Doug...

Actually, in one of the more paradoxical laws it is against the law to drive below the speed of traffic in Illinois in any other lane besides the right one. Illinois law equates this with going 25 MPH over the speed limit and going under the minimum speed on the expressway when you compare license point values with all three valued at 20 points.

[SlowGuy]

Believer wrote:

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You are in your own world. If someone speeding has to slow down for someone else, then everyone else either would never catch up to this person or would also need to do the same. Just get out of the way.

He's right, ask any trafic engineer. I'll never get out of the way as long as I know it makes people like you fuming. You rationale is a foolish as yourself.

[Ken in Aurora]

Brad wrote:

There is also a law in Illinois that states you cannot drive in the left lane if people are trying to pass. Basically you are causing a hazard if you camp out in the left lane even if you are going the speed limit. If you are not passing then move over to the right. Then you will not have people stacked up behind you looking confused. A little more common sense and less self-righteousness goes a long way in making the road ways safer.

Trust me, I was talking about going 55 in the right lane. There's many maroons that try and pass using the right lane on I-88, and they climb up your butt.

[DJB459]

40000fans wrote: "I would say that 9 million folks have race car driver skills and the reaction time of a supersonic air speed pilot."

*SIGH*...and we wonder why there are so many cracks ups un rush hour.

Over-confidence is what kills. Speed is the catalyst, yet over-confidence encourages speed. Thus, the cycles propagate.

Cyclone wrote: "Escalade drivers are IMO without question the worst drivers on the road." Never been behind Camry, have you?

[Random]

Wow wrote:

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So you are saying if someone is driving 70 and comes up to someone driving 45, he is required to slow down and this causes parking lot conditions? But you say the people going 70 cause the delays. The people driving 45 are the limiting factor here. Unless the people driving 70 crash into the people going 45, the only reason people are going slow is because the people going 45 hold the rest of us back.
Last time I checked if you have 60 miles to drive, and you go 60 miles an hour, you get there in an hour. If you go 30 miles an hour, you get there in 2 hours. Maybe the "new math" gives you a different answer.

Not sure why you brought the math into the equation, that is only true in non-gridlock environments.

What I said was, when you have people obeying the law and driving 45 mph and then people zooming around them at 70 mph, you will have gridlock. If all the traffic was flowing at 70 mph you would not have gridlock without an accident, likewise if all the traffic is going 45 mph you would not have gridlock without an accident.

It is the varying speeds that cause the accident. So a person, presumably like you, goes 70 mph in a construction zone and comes up to a person, presumably like me, going 45 mph. You slam on your brakes to avoid a collision and/or swerve to another lane. This interrupts the flow of traffic and causes back up and/or gridlock.

This argument does go either way. If I had been going 70 mph then you would not have ever come up upon me. However, then I am running the risk of getting that $375 ticket, which I don't want to pay. As long as people will disobey the law we will have this problem, which then skews your math.

If I am going 60 miles and I start at 60 mph but come upon gridlock.. I will not be getting to my destination in an hour. Plain and simple.

[Tim]

40000fans wrote:

If driving faster the bad driver would have less time to react let along see your meanie face in the rear view mirror thus making the bad driver more nervous. Anuthing that you fast drivers can add to a better environment for bad drivers can only kill more drivers. Good luck!

Wait - do you mean that the good drivers can kill the bad drivers because they're more skillful? I can support that.

[Tim]

Rich wrote:

In addition to this there is little or no place for a state trooper to pull you over to issue a citation. I see alot of truckers tailgating and speeding in these zones as well which is very scary. The construction crews should have made at least a small shoulder for emergency vehicles (Fire equipment, tow trucks, ambulances, and police) to respond to an accident in cases of rush hour or gridlock. A good example of this being a problem is the single counter flow lane on the Tollway. It is a single lane with baracades on both sides. When an accident occurs it takes a long time for responders to reach it.

On I-88, there are emergency pull-off areas approximately every half-mile in the work zones. Look for them sometime; they're definitely there. It doesn't truly solve the problem, but shoulders are going to be non-existent in some work zones - unless, of course, you want the projects to take even longer...

[George]

DJB459; I haven't received a ticket in years and years, as I mentioned, I drive with the flow of traffic which sometimes includes speeding. When I have gotten tickets I pay them I don't bother with judges and court.

[Alan Stromberg]

It's revealing that in Wisconsin they don't feel the necessity to lower the speed limit to 45 just because they have traffic control cones in place. They take the more reasonable tack that unless real work is in progress there's no need to slow traffic excessively. I've never understood why we allow highway contractors to barricade miles of highway because they're eventually going to do some work there. It all relates to planning, or lack thereof, or lack of enforced work scheduling standards by IDOT. But then again, it may all relate to the fact that the Illinois Roadbuilders Assn. is one of the biggest lobbyists in Illinois.

[Chicago Listener]

I love the fact that only 3300 tickets have been issued. At any given moment, I would think there are at least 3300 cars in construction zones. Now let us say from March 1 to May 31, there were 5,000,000 individual car trips on expressways in the Chicagoland area about 55K a day. Now that equates to 0.07% of all car trips resulting in a speeding ticket. Out of the 5 million trips, let us assume 25% have excessive speeding, 1.25 million. If my assumptions are correct that means .26% of excessive speeding, trips result in a ticket. Therefore, if .26% of the time, excess speeding will cost you $375 and 99.74% of the time will cost you nothing, assuming your time is worth $7.75 (minimum wage in Il) you will come out a head if you can cut your drive time by 8 minutes and rational choice is to excessively speed.

[Cora]

I haven't had a day where I didnt get frustrated with driving on the highway. With so many of them under construction, the 45 mph limit is everywhere and most of the time there are no workers in sight. On top of that, when construction ends you get stuck behind someone doing 55 mph on the fast lane ignoring everyone else "just because they're within legal limit". I understand in Illinois we have the 55 limit, but the cars of today are built to be safer and drive much faster than that. It's stupid drivers that cause accidents not the speed. If you want to drive slower than anyone move over and you wont have to complain about people beeping or hugging your bumper.
In Europe and especially Germany there are no speed limits. However when you get the construction sign and allert everyone slows down to 100 km/h (not even one km over)-- and you can also see people working. After the restriction is lifted everyone goes back to driving fast. And common sense is used-- if you want to drive slow, go on the right, if you can and your guts allow you to, you're on the left. Accidents are few. The stupidity I see on our streets daily makes me wonder how these people arent killed in accidents as soon as they get in their cars.

[Gregg]

Nothing more humorous than "contributing to a very dangerous situation" it always makes me laugh.

—Doug Snyder of Chicago wrote

"I was the only person driving 45 m.p.h. It was laughable watching the rear-view mirror as drivers were confounded by my rate of speed, and I felt I was contributing to a very dangerous situation while cars stacked up behind me."

[maroonmind]

RegularGuy wrote:

Let's see.
Thanks to IDOT, " ... lanes have been temporarily narrowed, traffic configurations change and construction equipment is working or parked nearby ... "
So IDOT creates unsafe conditions, then puts the burden for the unsafe conditions on the motorists - none of whom have any control over how the roadway is reconfigured.
IDOT admits it has created a hazardous situation for construction workers working on state highway projects.

Excellent, excellent point and arguement!

[ACJ]

Maybe the state should hire some more troopers. I mean if you actually patrol the construction zones, the troopers would pay for themselves. I drive 45 in them and nearly get trampled in the right lane.

I agree that the construction is out of hand. Why do we need 19 straight miles of construction on I-94? Why don't we work on a 3-4 mile stretch, finish it then continue on rather than making people (even though most don't) drive 45 for 19 miles with no construction equipment in sight!

[Jennifer]

Anyone actually been on the autobahn? Anyone actually tried to get a drivers license and keep it in Germany? To get a license in Europe requires significantly more study and skill than it does here. To keep it also requires a lot more obedience of the law. It's also the only place in Europe where there are no speed restrictions (and even then there are some on the autobahn these days). You people need to find out your facts before posting away on stuff you don't actually know about.
As for the speed laws being about revenue - if that were true surely they'd all be out there 24/7 writing people up. We wouldn't need sales tax because you lot would be funding us all!

[DG Resident]

MOE wrote:

The speed limit on all Illinois expressways is : How fast will your car go ? I recently observed 3 ISP cruisers parked at a restaurant on Ogden ave. in Downers Grove. Granted, you have to eat but 3 at a time ? Your toll $$$ at work.

I bet they were parked at Omega restaurant. Ive seen as many as 5 there at once.

[Cora]

Jennifer wrote:

Anyone actually been on the autobahn? Anyone actually tried to get a drivers license and keep it in Germany? To get a license in Europe requires significantly more study and skill than it does here. To keep it also requires a lot more obedience of the law. It's also the only place in Europe where there are no speed restrictions (and even then there are some on the autobahn these days). You people need to find out your facts before posting away on stuff you don't actually know about.
As for the speed laws being about revenue - if that were true surely they'd all be out there 24/7 writing people up. We wouldn't need sales tax because you lot would be funding us all!

Jennifer been there and drove there. I didnt get my licence there but drove in many European countries and have relatives in Germany who did. I know about the harsh laws and about the twice a year car inspection they need to pass in order for their vehicles to be allowed on the autobahn. Like you said, drivers there actually drive and don't mess around behind the wheel. I just wish it wasn't as easy to get a licence here as it is now.

[Chris]

Royer wrote:

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In many cases, such as the person quoted in the article, driving a "safe" speed may very well mean exceeding the speed limit. So when a person is put in a position where they must choose between breaking the law and picking a safe speed, what is the driver to do? When a law designed to enhance safety in some cases ends up caring nothing about safety, it's time to consider other options.

Exactly. HILKEVITCH never addressed this issue in his response.