#FREEWAY EXPRESS SHOOTER NORTHWEST INDIANA DRIVERS#
#FREEWAY EXPRESS SHOOTER NORTHWEST INDIANA FREE#
#FREEWAY EXPRESS SHOOTER NORTHWEST INDIANA CRACK#

#FREEWAY EXPRESS SHOOTER NORTHWEST INDIANA FREE#

The Skyway-Indiana Toll Road combination paralleled the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and was a popular road until the Dan Ryan Expressway opened in 1962, with Interstate 80/94 providing a free route from Chicago to northwestern Indiana. With the newly opened Indiana Toll Road, the Skyway and Toll Road became part of a second coast-to-coast Interstate highway, as Interstate 90 ran through the city of Chicago proper. The Chicago Skyway opened five years later, on April 16, 1958. Subsequently a part of Interstate 80, this route would become part of one of the most important coast-to-coast Interstate highways in the United States. In 1953, the Kingery-Borman expressway combination opened. The Illiana Expressway would become the third east–west expressway to connect northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana. Recently enacted legislation in both states also allows a 'public private partnership' or 'P3', which allows private sector financing for constructing or operating a transportation facility. These showed that transportation improvements could be possible, and set the stage for formal studies.įollowing completion of these studies, a memorandum of understanding was signed on Jby the Governors of Illinois and Indiana, which formalized the partnership between the two states for planning a potential new transportation linkage. More recently, feasibility studies for a potential Illiana expressway were completed in 2009 by Indiana and a supplemental study in 2010 by Illinois. Conceptual highway corridors linking Illinois and Indiana south of Interstate 80 were also studied by regional planning agencies in both states in the 1960s and 1970s. The vision of the Illiana Corridor dates back to the 1909 Plan of Chicago by Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett that included an 'Outer Encircling Highway' serving northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana. The proposed route of the Illiana Expressway would have placed it between Interstate 55 in Illinois to Interstate 65 in Indiana, passing just south of the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant.

Tier Two Alternatives for the Illiana Expressway However, construction plans were shelved in 2015 when Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner issued an executive order delaying the construction of new highways in the state. The freeway was scheduled to open in 2018.

It was planned as being approximately 50 miles (80 km) in length, mostly in Illinois, connecting Interstate 55 (I-55) in Illinois to I-65 in Indiana. Formal environmental impact statement studies were begun in April 2011 and were led jointly by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). The Illiana Expressway, also known as the Illiana Corridor, was a controversial proposed toll road in northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. They're also monitoring highway security cameras, adding patrols and using what they're calling new technology to stop the thefts.Proposed Illiana Expressway corridor highlighted in red Police have reached out to recycling and salvage yards to try to catch the crooks. Thieves remove the panel cover at the base, pull out the copper wire and then sell it to scrappers. Nearly 100 light poles have been targeted. The thieves sometimes try to look like INDOT workers and usually strike at night, investigators said. Terrance Weems, of the Indiana State Police.

Maybe they don't know they can be electrocuted by going into the boxes,' said 1st Sgt. 'Most importantly, the safety for the people, even safety for the thieves.

The brazen thieves have primarily targeted lights along I-80/94, costing the state more than $100,000. However, roadways began going dark in August. In 2013, two people were convicted in connection to the copper wire thefts and they are still in prison. 'What we think is happening is they're taking the wire and they're melting off the plastic seal and taking it just for the copper,' said Doug Moats, an INDOT spokesman.Īnd this is not the first time.

#FREEWAY EXPRESS SHOOTER NORTHWEST INDIANA CRACK#

On Wednesday, Indiana State Police and the Indiana Department of Transportation announced that they are joining forces to crack down on the copper thieves.

#FREEWAY EXPRESS SHOOTER NORTHWEST INDIANA DRIVERS#

Thousands of feet of copper wire have been stolen from expressway lights in northwest Indiana, endangering drivers traveling in the dark. Thieves are targeting light poles along expressways in northwest Indiana for valuable copper wire.

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