Tinley Park to study new I-80 interchange at Ridgeland
BY STEVE METSCH smetsch@southtownstar.com August 22, 2012 1:14PM
Maps
Updated: September 24, 2012 7:44AM
It wouldn’t happen for years, if at all, but Tinley Park officials are interested in building an interchange to connect 183rd Street and Ridgeland Avenue with Interstate 80.
The village board on Tuesday night gave initial approval to spending $40,000 for a study of the proposal. The plan being considered is not for a full interchange; instead there would be an off ramp from westbound I-80 leading to 183rd Street, and an on ramp from northbound Ridgeland Avenue to eastbound I-80. No homes would be affected.
The Illinois Department of Transportation would pay the remaining $160,000 cost of the study.
The goal is to offer another route for drivers to get into and out of Tinley Park, Village Trustee Dave Seaman said.
Right now, the only Tinley Park I-80 interchange between I-57 and LaGrange Road is at Harlem Avenue.
“It would be great for the music theater, but one of the ultimate conversations is, what’s the disposition of that music theater land?” Seaman said, noting the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre had been for sale for several years with no buyers stepping forward.
The interchange idea has been kicked around for about eight years, Seaman said.
“We felt that it would be helpful in diverting truck traffic away from the interchange near Harlem and 183rd,” Seaman said. “This is just a very initial study. You’re probably talking a 10-year time frame from the beginning to the end for this. But it’s worth it because there’s no telling how that area might be developed.”
