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Will County is part of the six-county
Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC), which includes the
Chicago metropolitan area. The county is bounded on the east by the
State of Indiana, on the south by Kankakee County, on the west by
Grundy and Kendall Counties, and on the north by Cook and DuPage
Counties. The planning area for Will County includes 24 townships and
35 incorporated municipalities. This plan addresses issues from both
the county and the regional area perspective.
Will County has extensive natural resources,
prime agricultural land, and expanding urban areas. Historically an
area of rapid growth, the county now faces a marked increase in
potential development tied to the growth of the Chicago metropolitan
area. Population and employment are expected to increase significantly
by the year 2020; projections made by NIPC indicate a 2.5 percent
annual increase in households and a 3 percent annual increase in
employment over the next 21 years. Should large-scale development
plans come to fruition, such as the south suburban airport concept,
the growth rate is projected to be higher, with an annual household
growth of 3 percent and an annual growth in employment of 4 percent.
As the demand for transportation rises, existing
problems and deficiencies will worsen, and the need for additional
capacity and/or other improved capabilities will become more apparent.
The response to these needs will involve the county's surface
transportation system. This system includes various elements: state,
county, township, and municipal roads; bikeways; commuter rail
services; and regional bus service. Since many trips will either
originate in or be destined to areas outside of the county, the
planning activities must involve the adjacent communities around Will
County as well as those within the county.
The purpose of this report is to present and
describe the recommended Will County 2020 Transportation Framework
Plan. This plan carefully considers the challenges and opportunities
facing the county at this important period, and it recommends goals,
policies, and objectives to prepare the region to meet the
transportation needs of the future.
This plan includes recommended improvements to
be completed by the State of Illinois, Illinois State Toll Highway
Authority, the Will County Highway Department, municipalities,
townships, the private sector, adjacent units of government, and the
Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), Metra, and Pace. Each of the
implementation agencies functions independently. However, it is their
voluntary cooperation that is essential and requested for this plan to
succeed.
Transportation Plan Process
Planning is a process through which the goals
and objectives of the county are developed, reviewed, and updated. The
transportation plan is part of that process. Specifically, the Will
County 2020 Transportation Framework Plan is an element of the Will
County Land Resource Management Plan, which recognizes transportation
as a land-use issue in the following stated goal:
Movement of persons and goods on a safe and
efficient transportation system which minimizes environmental and
social disruption and which anticipates the demands of growth.
Further, in the achievement of that goal, the
Land Resource Management plan lays out the following objectives:
- Coordinate transportation planning with
land-use development by providing a transportation framework on
which the proposed land development patterns can be supported.
- Construct a thoroughfare system based on the
hierarchy and function established in the thoroughfare plan.
- Improve access from residential to major
activity and service areas.
- Improve accessibility of region-serving land
uses to the regional highway system.
- Minimize displacement caused by
transportation improvements.
- Strengthen the capacity and encourage the use
of commuter rail, suburban bus, and other transportation options.
These objectives within the Land Resource
Management Plan have become the basis for developing a transportation
plan that identifies specific transportation systems as well as
linking transportation with land-use patterns. Following the
recommendations and programs contained in this plan will substantially
improve the county, by providing enhanced access and mobility for
current and future county residents and assuring responsible land-use
decisions.
To achieve these ends, the development of the
transportation plan followed these steps:
- Project Initiation. Initial discussions were
held about the project with transportation committee members and
in public forums. These discussions focused on issues, agency
relationships, and information.
- Data Collection. A comprehensive database,
including base mapping, traffic volumes and estimates, and public
transportation patronage and projections, was obtained.
- Transportation Needs. This task entailed the
examination of existing and future conditions, including an
assessment of the existing systems and committed project plans by
all agencies in Will County, including the Illinois Department of
Transportation (IDOT), Metra, and Pace. The Chicago Area
Transportation Study (CATS) was a major participant. The needs
analysis incorporated estimates of future traffic volumes provided
by CATS, based on year 2020 population and employment forecasts
assembled by NIPC. The analysis also addressed impacts related to
the possible third regional airport. Beyond numerical analysis,
the "arterial" street system (other than state routes,
freeways, and tollways) was examined in terms of connectivity,
spacing, and rational functional consistency.
- Goals, Objectives, and Assumptions. This task
provided the all-important direction for the project by guiding
the translation of transportation needs into a definition of
recommended improvements. Policy perspectives and visions of the
key agencies in Will County (each participating as members of the
plan's transportation committee) were considered and integrated,
with input from public officials and citizens, to ensure that the
transportation solutions were appropriate for Will County.
- Transportation Alternatives. This was the
planning task that translated the results of the needs analysis
into transportation alternatives. These alternatives are
consistent with the framework defined by the goals, objectives,
and assumptions of the project, and are multimodal in character.
The alternatives considered concepts identified by individual
municipalities, IDOT, Metra, and Pace. Significant consideration
was given to the "boundary" issues at adjoining county
lines (DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Kane, Cook, Kankakee Counties) and
the Indiana state line. Some of these concepts provided strictly
capacity improvements; others included a variety of transportation
control measures designed to reduce demand. Alternatives were
defined for both the "with airport" and "without
airport" scenarios.
- Evaluate Alternatives. The goals and
objectives were translated into a set of pertinent evaluation
criteria that allowed for sensitive comparison of alternatives.
The evaluation also considered criteria outlined in federal
regulations concerning vehicle emissions, environmental impacts,
congestion, transportation efficiency, and economic feasibility,
as well as traditional capacity and travel time considerations.
Information is provided to summarize the likely performance,
impact, and capital cost of three alternative transportation
concepts. The purpose of the alternatives evaluation task was not
to select one of the three transportation concepts, but to test
which elements of the various concepts are most appropriate for
Will County.
- Recommended Plan. This task resulted in a
recommended Will County Transportation Plan. The evaluation
results, financial analyses, and coordination with the plans of
other agencies were integrated to form the recommendations.
- Implementation Strategy. This task involved
the identification of a strategy for implementing the
recommendations. Elements of this strategy are funding sources,
special initiatives, and policies.
- Management Approach to Ongoing Planning. This
final task sets forth some objectives for the continuous
management and monitoring of the plan so that future revisions and
additions can be made as transportation and land-use decisions are
made.
Throughout this process, public input was sought
and received at countywide public meetings and supplemented with a
series of meetings with local community leaders and government
officials at the federal, state, township, and municipal levels. A
listing of these meetings is provided in the Appendix. These efforts
were aimed at obtaining a common understanding of the transportation
challenges and needs, as well as building consensus for the most
appropriate solutions for the communities of Will County.
The result is a long-range plan for guiding the
development and improvement of the county's transportation system. A
transportation improvement program was developed to implement this
long-range plan. The program includes a list of projects that should
be undertaken or encouraged by the county.
As a planning document, this report serves as a
means to communicate the 2020 Transportation Plan to all citizens and
local, regional, and state agencies. The recommendations should be
used as input to the decisions that affect implementation of
transportation improvements and development policy throughout Will
County. It is important to note that this plan should be amended as
economic, social, environmental, and cultural changes occur. Continued
public input in the planning process, as the document is amended in
the future, is encouraged.
Plan Coordination
Every effort was made to make the 2020
Transportation Framework Plan consistent with the adopted plans of
governments in and adjacent to Will County, and with the plans and
programs of regional agencies such as CATS, NIPC, IDOT, RTA, Pace, and
Metra.
The CATS 2020 Regional Transportation Plan
provides a framework for the county transportation plan. The county
transportation plan also has a principal relationship with, and is an
element of, the county Land Resource Management Plan. In a more
detailed way, the county plans are coordinated with the planning
activities of the local municipalities and townships. The proposed
third regional airport stimulated a series of local plan development
activities in eastern Will County. These developments were considered
in the recommended plan.
Special studies have also occurred in several
major highway corridors under the auspices of the Transportation
Corridor Councils. A corridor council consists of members from
surrounding communities and counties, usually within one and one-half
miles of an identified corridor. The corridor is defined by that area
surrounding a section of proposed highway. The purpose of the corridor
council is to control growth and development, as well as to protect
the environment and preserve the character of the area. Principles of
agreement are usually written to enforce the intent of the corridor
council. The council members work together to reach a common vision of
future development and share information on development impacts that
may overload public facilities, damage the environment, and lead to
destructive governmental competition.
The corridor councils consider transportation
demands as they seek consensus on an overall land-use pattern within a
corridor. The fact that corridor councils are formed in response to
roadway proposals indicates the importance of transportation decisions
on both local and regional land-use issues. The six corridor councils
in Will County include I-80, I-57, I-355 (I-55 to I-80), I-355 (I-80
to I-57), WIKADUKE, and LUTSFOX. Each of these studies entails
land-use and transportation planning. These results were considered in
the development of the Will County Transportation Plan.
Adopted Plans for the Will County Area
The following adopted plans served as resources
for the performance of the Will County Transportation Plan:
Regional
- The Regional Comprehensive General Plan,
1977 (NIPC)
- Regional Overbank Flooding and Stormwater
Drainage Policy Plan, 1976 (NIPC)
- Regional Residential Policy Plan, 1978 (NIPC)
- Regional Water Supply Plan, 1978 (NIPC)
- Area Wide Water Quality Management Plan for
Northeastern Illinois, 1979 (NIPC)
- Regional Open Space and Recreation Policy,
1980 (NIPC)
- Septage Disposal Plan, 1981 (NIPC)
- Regional Land Use Policy Plan, 1984 (NIPC)
- Regional Solid Waste Management Policy
Plan, 1986 (NIPC)
- 2010 Transportation System Development
Plan, 1989 (NIPC/CATS)
- Regional Greenways Plan, 1992 (NIPC)
- Strategic Plan for Land Resource
Management, 1992 (NIPC)
- Eastern Will County Plan, 1996 (South
Suburban Planning Committee)
- Destination 2020 Regional Transportation
Plan, 1998 (NIPC/CATS)
- County General Plan, 1976
- Will County Transit Study, 1982
- Natural Resources Element of the Will
County General Plan, 1982
- Will County Highway Study, 1984
- Forest Preserve Acquisition Plan, 1989
- Land Resource Management Plan, 1990
- Solid Waste Management Plan, 1996
- Will County 2020 Transportation Framework
Plan, 2000
- Will County Historic Preservation Plan,
2000
Other Planning Activities in Will County
Planning activities at the sub-regional and corridor levels and the
municipal and township level (where available) were considered in the
formulation of the transportation plan, including:
Sub-Regional and Corridor
- I-80 Corridor Planning Council (U.S. Route
30 to Pulaski Road)
- I-57 Corridor Planning Council (I-80 to
City of Kankakee)
- Heritage Corridor Planning Council (I-355
extension, I-55 to I-80)
- South Suburban Tollway Corridor Planning
Council (I-355 extension, I-80 to I-57)
- WIKADUKE Region (IL 56 to I-80)
- The LUTSFOX Study (IL 59 Corridor from I-90
to I-80)
- South Suburban Planning Committee (Proposed
South Suburban Airport Area)
- Eastern Will Regional Planning Council
(Eastern Will County Area and Lake County, Indiana)
Municipalities
- City of Aurora
- Village of Beecher
- Village of Bolingbrook
- City of Braidwood
- Village of Channahon
- City of Coal City
- City of Crest Hill
- Village of Crete
- Village of Diamond
- Village of Elwood
- Village of Frankfort
- Village of Godley
- City of Joliet
- Village of Lemont
- City of Lockport
- Village of Manhattan
- Village of Minooka
- Village of Mokena
- Village of Monee
- City of Naperville
- Village of New Lenox
- Village of Orland Park
- Village of Park Forest
- Village of Peotone
- Village of Plainfield
- Village of Rockdale
- Village of Romeoville
- Village of Sauk Village
- Village of Shorewood
- Village of Steger
- Village of Symerton
- Village of Tinley Park
- Village of University Park
- City of Wilmington
- Village of Woodridge
Townships
- Channahon
- Crete
- Custer
- DuPage
- Florence
- Frankfort
- Green Garden
- Homer
- Jackson
- Joliet
- Lockport
- Manhattan
- Monee
- New Lenox
- Peotone
- Plainfield
- Reed
- Troy
- Washington
- Wesley
- Wheatland
- Will
- Wilmington
- Wilton
