Corridor Overview
While growth in the Cook DuPage Corridor has
provided positive opportunities for many in the Chicago metro region,
it has also resulted in some difficult challenges that must be
overcome. New households and businesses in and around the Cook DuPage
Corridor have placed exponential demand on the existing transportation
system. This additional demand for transportation has resulted in high
levels of congestion and a resounding call for more public transit.
The Cook DuPage Corridor generates a significant
share of the region's travel and its transportation system provides key
linkages between DuPage County , the western communities of Cook County
and the city of Chicago . Additionally, the 51 corridor municipalities
include a number of regional employment centers that attract workers
from throughout northeastern Illinois . Not counting pass-through
trips, the Corridor's existing highway and transit
network.substantially unchanged over four decades. bears nearly 4
million trips per day. However, since 1970, corridor population has
increased by 20% to 1.1 million in 2000 and employment has doubled to
nearly 750,000 over the same period. With sustained population and
economic expansions underway in western DuPage, Kane and Will counties,
the Corridor's important transportation role at the region's center
will likely continue. Regional and national trends, including the
continued increase in dual-income households, the rise of the service
sector and the decline in manufacturing are additional factors
influencing Corridor travel.
The region must act collectively to improve the
transportation system, the ability to access job opportunities and to
travel conveniently, safely, and economically throughout Cook DuPage
Corridor has a direct bearing on everyone's quality of life and on the sustainability of our region.
Study Purpose
The purpose of the Cook DuPage Corridor Study is
to develop potential solutions to address the critical mobility needs
of the western subarea of the Chicago metropolitan region. The Corridor
study will develop and evaluate a broad range of alternative ways to
improve mobility, and help the region select the most effective and
desired projects for investment. Because the travel needs of the
Corridor are of a magnitude that may warrant a major capital investment
(capital projects over $100 million), the study will follow a planning
process consistent with Major Investment Study and Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) New Starts requirements.
Corridor Boundaries and Study Area Map
The Cook DuPage Corridor is centrally located in
the six county region covering a critical portion of the Chicago
metropolitan area. It is centered on the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290)
and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) and extends approximately
30 miles from Cicero Avenue (IL 50) in the city of Chicago to the
Kane-DuPage county line. The Metra/Milwaukee District - West commuter
line and Metra/Burlington Northern Santa Fe line form the north and
south boundaries respectively.
The Corridor is comprised of approximately 300
square miles, spanning 51 suburban municipalities in Cook and DuPage
counties and the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. The Corridor area
has a 2000 Census population of over 1.1 million and approximately
750,000 jobs.
Major activity centers located in the Corridor include:
• Cantera
• Morton Arboretum
• Stratford Square
• I-88 Research and Development Corridor
• College of DuPage
• Yorktown Center
• Oakbrook Center
• Triton College
• Hines VA Hospital
• Loyola University Medical Center
• Brookfield Zoo
• North Riverside Park Mall
• Cook County Circuit Court , 4th District Courthouse
According to the 2000 Census, approximately 800,000 work trips begin or
end in the Cook DuPage Corridor each morning, and an additional 65,000
commuters are passing through it. Fifteen percent of the region's
employment is concentrated in the 300 square miles comprising the Cook
DuPage Corridor.
The Corridor's travel market area - where trips
going to the Corridor begin, and where trips coming from the Corridor
end . is considerably larger than the Corridor proper. The Cook DuPage
Corridor travel market area stretches from the Lakefront (Lake
Michigan) in Chicago, where many reverse commuters to the Corridor
live; and extends westward across much of Cook, DuPage, Kane and the
northwest portion of Will counties.
Study Sponsors
The Cook DuPage Corridor Study is being carried out and is funded by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), in partnership with the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA), the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), and more than 50 local governments are key participants in this corridor planning effort.
The RTA is a special purpose unit of local
government and a municipal corporation of the state of Illinois. It is
the financial oversight agency of the region's three public
transportation providers: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace.
Study Schedule
