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This document presents the latest renewal of the
Will County Transportation Plan, which is an element of the Will
County Land Resource Management Plan. This update builds from and
amplifies previously developed transportation plans and studies. This
plan is subject to public input and should be revised every five
years.
This plan reflects a collaborative effort among
municipalities, townships, regional agencies, and the State of
Illinois. The Year 2020 Regional Transportation Plan, being managed by
the joint efforts of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC)
and the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS), has been used as a
framework for the current Will County plan. It is based on the same
year 2020 population and employment forecasts. The Illinois Department
of Transportation (IDOT), Metropolitan Rail (Metra), Pace suburban bus
service, and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) provided
assistance and direction during the planning process. The county also
asked each municipality, township, and state agency to participate.
Each agency was asked for input and guidance throughout the process.
This plan is intended to be more detailed than
previous plans. It is multimodal in content and includes roads, public
transportation improvements, and railroads, and also provides the
foundation for later studies on bikeway, pedestrian, equestrian, and
airport transportation. The plan has also tried to be responsive to
the possible development of a third regional airport in the Peotone
area. The results are a recommended transportation plan described in
terms of two scenarios: with a new airport and without a new airport.
The plan is written to guide transportation
improvements through the year 2020. It also takes an even longer view.
The opportunity for facilities such as bridges or rights-of-way for
roadways or public transportation needs to be protected for the
post-planning period. As development continues, transportation
improvements will be needed for the long range. Because of the rapid
growth the county is anticipating, with population that is projected
to more than double by the year 2020, this plan should be continually
managed and updated.
Transportation facilities and services are
essential for Will County's economic well-being and the quality of
life of its citizens. While this relationship is recognized by most
people and organizations, the reality of achieving the desired level
of transportation infrastructure falls short of this goal. Lack of
financing, the inability to acquire right-of-way, lack of coordination
between land use and development activities and transportation needs,
and differences concerning the need for transportation improvements
are factors that impact the implementation of an optimal
transportation system.
The presence of these factors is not new in the
process of urban change affecting Will County. The significant fact is
that change in Will County is accelerating. Growth is occurring at a
faster pace. The longer-range forecasts, as discussed in this report,
describe a situation that will generate a significantly higher level
of transportation needs.
These conditions mean that a long-range
transportation plan has a vital role to play. It has the opportunity
to define the unique series of actions that would serve the increasing
transportation needs of Will County. Because this plan has a
countywide agenda, in geographic terms, it can address key
considerations:
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Program coordination between many agencies:
state, regional, and local.
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Facility planning and design coordination to
respond to the fact that growth will increase the urbanized area
and bring local communities closer together.
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Identification of long-range facility needs,
viewed in a system fashion, with provision to protect or preserve
transportation right-of-way opportunities.
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Increasing the value and benefits from
transportation investments through the use of system planning
concepts that identify opportunities to serve multiple needs or
accommodate the needs of more than one agency.
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Enhancing the use of limited funding for
transportation investments.
The preparation of this plan has provided for
the engagement of a wide spectrum of agencies and interests involved
in planning activities that affect Will County. These agencies and
interests were initially organized into four committees (Policy,
Board, Planning, and Citizen) that met quarterly to guide the early
stages of the study. These committees are identified in the Appendix
of this report. The recommended plan and the process used to define
the plan, described in this report, reflect a consensus of these
participants. The plan needs to be transformed into a living document
to realize the vital role it can play. This requires commitment.
Will County will need to be an active partner
with other organizations to achieve this use of the plan. In this
sense, the preparation of the plan summarized in this report is only
the beginning.
