Expressways and Tollways in Chicago

by **mapcat** » Sun May 06, 2012 6:10 pm

I'm in the process of editing most of the expressways and tollways in and around Chicago to this format:

The expressway/tollway itself: the local name (Edens Expy, Chicago Skyway, Bishop Ford Fwy, etc)
Ramps leading to it: the interstate route number ("to I-290 W", "to I-55 S", "to I-90 I-94 W")

Waze is in the process of adding shields to the roads so that they will show both the name and the route number on the client.

At major intersections/splits the on-ramps will include all the information on the Big Green Signs ("Exit 59A: I-90 E / Skyway / to Indiana Toll Rd", "to I-290 E / Eisenhower Expy")

I'm not feeling the expressway names with the directions, though. "Dan Ryan Expy W" is technically correct, since it carries both westbound I-94 and westbound I-90 (partly), but it's a north-south road. So I propose renaming the northbound (W) lanes "Dan Ryan Expy Inbound" and the southbound (E) lanes "Dan Ryan Expy Outbound" since this is the way traffic reports have traditionally indicated the direction of travel. So when an alert pops up on Waze, "Accident on Dan Ryan Expy inbound" seems more meaningful than "Accident on Dan Ryan Expy W" and much more meaningful than "Accident on I-94 W" which could be any of four different expressways, heading inbound or outbound.

Thoughts?

by **bigbear3764** » Sun May 06, 2012 6:20 pm

Amen! Would make more sense to Chicagoans like you said inbound and outbound.

I have done exits in my area basically from the edens-Kennedy split north to wadsworth. Also Kennedy-Jane Adams west to Huntley. Didn't put expressway names, but exits numbered and directions as they read on the big green signs.

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by **mapcat** » Sun May 06, 2012 6:31 pm

bigbear3764 wrote:Amen! Would make more sense to Chicagoans like you said inbound and outbound.

I have done exits in my area basically from the edens-Kennedy split north to wadsworth. Also Kennedy-Jane Adams west to Huntley. Didn't put expressway names, but exits numbered and directions as they read on the big green signs.

Yeah, I saw those. Thanks for doing much of the work. If my name is on the ramps now, it's only because I locked them.

I moved away in the 90s, so I'm not sure if Jane Addams Tollway and Ronald Reagan Tollway and whatever they're calling 355 now are in general use. What would you suggest?

by **bigbear3764** » Sun May 06, 2012 6:55 pm

I would use the Illinois tollway website as a guide as to where they stop calling the 90 Kennedy and start Jane Adams. I think it might be out at the 290- Eisenhower. 355 is the north-south toll way. No fancy name for that one yet. If blago wasn't in jail, he probably would have named it after himself.

I saw your bow tie intersection at rohlwing rd and the Elgin- Ohare expressway. Was there a reason you changed that intersection? When I first got that area, it was a mess. Turn restrictions, wrong ways set. I had been keeping an eye on it to see if changes worked between updates. Just wondering if I should change other intersections to this bow tie or is it a fix when all else fails.

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by **mapcat** » Sun May 06, 2012 8:53 pm

I know I worked on that intersection a couple times...not sure what it looked like the first time but if you're saying I messed up the turn restrictions, that certainly wasn't my intention and I apologize if I missed something.

Looking at it now, it looks like it got some more edits from someone else over the past week, so kinda hard to tell what everyone's thought process is. Since I was more concerned with 290 when I went through last weekend, I most likely just did a quick check for damage and fixed apparent errors instead of reworking everything. My general thoughts whenever I use one of those bowtie things is to simplify. Unless the images in Street View are outdated, this is an intersection with quite a few turn restrictions, and it's easier to make sure they're all correct (especially the U turns) when there's only one junction there. Plus, the little segments that show up where two split roads intersect (like #) bug me. They're hard to edit and to check without zooming way in.

Looking at it in more depth now, I wonder why Rohlwing is split at all. Splitting is good for a few things--such as making sure that you're not instructed to turn across a median where there's no access, or matching the roads to the GPS tracks--and Rohlwing's not really wide enough there to justify. Plus, wherever there's a curb cut on one side, the little curb separating the lanes goes away. The EOE needs to be split because it's a freeway that just happens to end there (still permanently, I guess?). Thorndale has a Jersey barrier separating the lanes, including where the ramps to/from 290 intersect. You could probably justify splitting it all the way east to where the Jersey barriers stop, but not any further. There's no significant upside.

So if you wanna redraw the intersection with the EOE/Thorndale going straight across as a split road, that shouldn't cause problems as long as you monitor the turn restrictions. I think you were right to add the right turn lanes since they are separated (there were map problems there, right?) so definitely keep those (they don't get names).

Other than that, anything else going on there?

by **bigbear3764** » Mon May 07, 2012 12:26 am

No problems, I don't think you messed up turn restrictions. I think i fixed it, but with update no getting done fir a couple weeks, the UR's kept coming. I'm just going to watch it. I agree about unspliting rohlwing rd. no need to be that way.

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by **mapcat** » Sun May 13, 2012 5:43 pm

Another issue I noticed: on the Tri-State north of the 94/294 split, the signs at on-ramps read "I-94 North Tollway / Wisconsin", not west, and South, not east, for the other direction. The ramps currently read "to I-94 E / Indiana" and "to I-94 W / Wisconsin", which I didn't change, but maybe it might be better to call them N and S to avoid confusion?

I don't think the last map update got all the updated names and shields on the expressways inside the Tri-State, so I will wait until after everything updates before switching the names to Inbound & Outbound.

by **bigbear3764** » Sun May 13, 2012 7:07 pm

When I did label the ramps on the Tri-State, I called them north and south. Got a UR on it, then thought you dummy, even routes run east-west. Looked on google street view to get what the actual green direction signs say, so that is how I labeled them. I did notice on one that it did say North Tollway, everyone calls it the Tri-state from Wisconsin to Indiana. I thought I would leave it and see if anyone notices it.

According to the Illinois Tollway map, the are calling I-355 the North tollway or Veterans Memorial Tollway North.

Now looking into it further, They are considering I-294 as a North-South as the by-pass of I-94 a East-West route. Whew, now to look to see what else I messed up.

by **looking4oph** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:59 pm

Newer Chicagoland forum user here, but been using Waze for 6+ months. Have started to do some map edits in my local area (originally to remove irritating inaccuracies in navigation, but now just because I'd like to contribute to quality map data). Is there a way to tell what Area Managers there are in my local area and beyond? I followed a posted link to the Google map, but there seemed to be very little territory marked in the US. Would like to possibly know who/connect with others in my local area here to see how best to contribute.

by **bigbear3764** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:05 pm

Here is one to watch, when mapcat gets this part up:

http://www.waze.com/wiki/index.php/Illi ... a_Managers

And here is a spread sheet with area managers that have added themselves to it. Took me some digging to find it, I put myself on it and that was the last time I was on it. Just be careful when you edit it:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... n_GB#gid=1

I'm an area manager too for Lake Co, northern Cook, Eastern McHenry and a little into DuPage and Kane.