Talk:Illinois Route 53

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[edit] History

The history section should include the origin of the route, not just from 1963 onwards. CarlGH 09:47, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

  • Yeah, when I started I figured it was implicit to the "Established" field in the infobox. It doesn't hurt to have it explicit, but it does imply that from 1924 through 1963 the route remained the same as defined in the article. —Rob (talk) 14:47, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Route description

Why does the path of Route 53 leave the "interstate standard" highway at Dundee/Route 68, travel west to Rand/Route 12, north to Hicks past Lake-Cook to Route 83? Why doesn't it instead follow the simpler and faster route through the end of the "interstate standard" highway to Lake-Cook, then west to Hicks and north to Route 83? Who is in charge of making decisions like this? Thanks for your insight! --DAW0001 (talk) 20:14, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The original IL 53 stopped at Dundee Road. In the early-to-mid 90s the pavement from Dundee Road north to Lake-Cook Road, and plans back then were to extend the IL 53 freeway north to IL 120, and then east to I-94 and west to U.S. 12. That died a remarkably slow death, but the signs remain the same, as if the plan may still happen. (And it might, but not if the city of Long Grove has anything to say about it.) —Rob (talk) 20:39, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for your reply. You have nicely explained why the path of Route 53 was set as it is when the pavement ended at Dundee Road; got it. However, why was the path NOT changed when the pavement was extended to Lake-Cook? Further, why has it not been changed SINCE? Even if the pavement is extended further north, this path realignment of rOUTE 53 would make sense. And, WHO decides the path of the Highway? Thanks again! --DAW0001 (talk) 14:28, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
Well, because ideally, the entire freeway running north to IL 120 would become signed IL 53 on completion. The new pavement to Lake-Cook Road was laid on the assumption that further construction would be done shortly thereafter. However, the more time that passes, the less likely this will happen. IDOT determines which streets are signed which numbers, with input from the local municipality (theoretically, records of where the route runs are kept at the county clerk's office, according to the IL state code.) —Rob (talk) 15:31, 31 March 2008 (UTC)


I posed the question to IDOT and got the following reply on 5/7/2008, presumably from "Mr. Steve Mastny, Area Programmer":

By Department policy, marked state routes must follow roadways under state jurisdiction. Lake-Cook Road in this area is under the jurisdiction of the Cook County Highway Department. As a result, Illinois Route 53 cannot follow Lake-Cook Road as you suggest, even though at first glance this might seem be a more logical and direct route. Illinois Route 68 (Dundee Road) is the furthest north state route the access controlled highway that carries IL-53 intersects. As a result, the only way for Illinois Route 53 to continue its northward journey to its termination at Illinois Route 83 is to follow the state owned Illinois Route 68 (Dundee Road) and U.S. Route 12 (Rand Road) to Hicks Road, which is also state owned.

So, the current route is a result of route designation policy and the ownership of the roads, rather than the past history or expected future of the pavement! --DAW0001 (talk) 14:33, 7 May 2008 (UTC)