CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A group of West Side and west suburban residents are calling on Governor Pritzker to take action to do away with the left side exits and entrances on the Eisenhower Expressway.
“It’s forever bottlenecked. You see squeals and brake lights and I’ve seen numerous accidents,” said lifelong West Side resident Annette Britton, who is talking about the left side exit ramps at Austin and Harlem on the Eisenhower.
“Very few places have that and it takes a lot of the brain to adjust, especially traveling at high speeds. So, I have seen many accidents. It’s always bottlenecked."
Roger Romanelli, executive director of the Fulton Market Association said the entrances and exits at those two spots need to be moved to the right like most ramps in the country.
“Every day, when thousands and thousands of vehicles approach Austin to Harlem, the full traffic pattern switches and it’s pure chaos.”
Romanelli said IDOT has told him it would cost $500 million to rework the ramps, because it involves so much more than putting in new ramps. IDOT has told him, in emails, that the entire bridges would need to be reconstructed at Austin and Harlem taking into consideration the CTA Blue Line stations, as well.
Romanelli accused Governor Pritzker of taking for granted people who live on the West Side and western suburbs. Romanelli called the the governor to “fix the Ike” by next year’s election.
Romanelli points out that the state’s gasoline tax just went up Thursday by a half-cent a gallon and that that money could be used to pay for those redesigned ramps.
“There’s a real bottleneck. You know, people realizing that that left lane runs out, because it’s an exit lane and then there’s a crunch to get into that left lane and it is very dangerous," he said.
Romanelli asked people to join in the push to re-do the ramps by going to fixtheike.com.
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