Dan Ryan Project Complete: Assessment

The Dan Ryan project is complete. The final cost ($975 million) is way over the original budget ($550 million), but the project was completed on schedule. Some questions to consider:

1. What accounts for the cost overruns and was the project a worthwhile investment of almost $1 billion of capital dollars?

2. How do you assess the outreach effort to motorists concerning the project?

3. There was a great deal of controversy over the level of minority participation in the project--How do you assess IDOT's efforts in this regard?

4. What lessons can be learned from the project?

5. Did IDOT blow it by not installing a high occupancy toll (HOT) lane?

6. The average daily traffic volume was 300,000 before the reconstruction: How soon before traffic volume (a) returns to that level and (b) reaches a level where the congestion is as bad as is was before the project?