Fixing Chicago's 'Hillside Strangler' Will Yield $4B in Benefits
13 April 2000
Fixing Chicago's 'Hillside Strangler' Will Yield $4 Billion in Economic Benefits, Study Finds American Highway Users Alliance Documents Savings in
Personal Time, Commercial Time, Fuel, Safety and Environment
WASHINGTON, April 13 A report released today by the
American Highway Users Alliance finds that Chicago-area residents and
commuters will reap a total of $4 billion in economic benefits when needed
improvements are made on I-290 at the Interchange of I-88 and I-294, popularly
known as the "Hillside Strangler." Completing those improvements will result
in individual savings for commuters using the bottleneck of $658 per year,
according to the report.
"This report makes it clear that traffic congestion costs Chicagoans a lot
of money and one of the most effective ways to reverse this economic and
environmental drain is to widen congested roads an build extensions where
necessary, " said Ken Aldridge, President of Illinois Road Builders
Association.
At a time when consumers are feeling the pinch of both the April 15 tax
deadline and soaring gas prices, the data from the Highway Users' report shows
the value of investing in improving America's traffic bottlenecks. The study
details the substantial payoff to businesses and consumers from completing
congestion-busting highway projects - not only in gas savings, but in reduced
environmental emissions, fewer traffic accidents, and time savings.
"By fixing the most congested roads in Illinois, commuters will be keeping
hundreds of dollars in their pockets and not choking the air with the exhaust
from backed-up traffic," said Aldridge. Commenting on the study's findings,
Aldrige said that critics who help delay building extensions to I-55 and I-53
are actually contributing to air pollution and economic drain rather than
helping to solve these problems. "These roads were built fifty years ago when
half of the suburbs didn't exist. The longer we delay addressing traffic
congestion in Illinois, the bigger price we'll pay in real dollars and in air
quality," Aldridge said.
The report, Saving Time, Saving Money: The Economics of Unclogging
America's Worst Bottlenecks, assesses the economic impact of the impressive
gains from bottleneck improvements identified in Unclogging America's
Arteries: Prescriptions for Healthier Highways, a 1999 report performed by
Cambridge Systematics for The Highway Users. According to the report, its data
"gives transportation officials, policy makers, and the general public a
clearer understanding of the significant social and economic rewards to be
reaped by improving traffic flow at key choke points."
Unclogging America's Arteries identified and analyzed the 166 worst
bottlenecks in America, and included the "Hillside Strangler" in its list of
the top 17 bottlenecks in the country. Saving Time, Saving Money has taken
those findings the next step and assigned monetary values to the time and fuel
savings, safety improvements and environmental benefits.
"This report shows that the "Hillside Strangler" isn't just a nuisance,
but a major drain on Chicago's economy and the personal productivity of its
citizens," said Bill Fay, President and CEO of the Highway Users. "With so
much to be gained, we need to find a way to speed up these improvements so
that we all can begin reaping these benefits."
The report points out that commuters and citizens nationwide would enjoy
more than $336 billion in economic benefits from improvements to the nation's
worst bottlenecks. The average commuter traveling through one of these 166
worst bottlenecks twice each workday could expect to save approximately $345
each year in time and fuel alone, if improvements were made.
"We need to move quickly to fix these bottlenecks," Fay said. "The
opportunity cost of delays -- in wasted time and fuel, highway accidents, and
tailpipe emissions that could be avoided if improvements were completed now
rather than later -- is staggering." The report estimates that a three-year
delay in undertaking needed improvements to the 166 bottlenecks yields an
opportunity cost of nearly $30 billion.
"The good news, however," Fay continued, "is that there's hope for curing
congestion on our highways -- which will save lives, improve the environment
and create more free time to spend with our families and friends."
Note: The attached fact sheet provides a breakdown of the savings from
improvements to Chicago's traffic bottleneck. Details on the methodology for
deriving the figures are included in the report, which is available at
http://www.highways.org.
CHICAGO FACT SHEET
From "Saving Time, Saving Money"
American Highway Users Alliance Study
April 13, 2000
I-290 at Interchange of I-88 and I-294: "Hillside Strangler" at a glance
The name "Hillside Strangler" comes from the nearby town of Hillside and
the convoluted tangle of three intersecting freeways and several local streets
that make up the interchange. The design of I-290 was completed in the early
1950s and does not meet the current design standards for freeways. A
significant problem with the configuration of the I-290 interchange area is a
lack of lane balance: Eight eastbound lanes approaching the interchange from
the west must merge to only three lanes on I-290.
Savings from Improvements
Listed below are the total economic benefits to be derived from
improvements to the "Hillside Strangler." The economic values listed for each
of the bottlenecks are cumulative over the construction period and the 20-year
useful life of the project. The "individual savings" identify the amount that
a typical commuter traveling through the bottleneck twice each workday will
save in time and fuel.
Personal Time Savings: $2.4 billion
Commercial Time Savings: $1 billion
Fuel Savings: $360 million
Safety Savings: $260 million
Environmental Savings: $190 million (greenhouse gases)
$75 million (air pollution)
Total Savings: $4.2 billion
Individual Savings: $658/year for a typical commuter
