The Chicago-Rockford-Madison-Milwaukee Megapolitan Watch Thread

[hudkina]

In 2000, Green County sent 20.2% of its workforce to Dane County (Madison). If by 2010 that number increases to 25% then Green County will join the Madison MSA.

Also in 2000, Ogle County sent 21.3% of its workforce to the Winnebago/Boone Counties (Rockford). If by 2010 that number increases to 25% then Ogle County will join the Rockford MSA.

Using the data from 2000, the commuter interchange between the Janesville MSA and the Madison MSA with Green County was 12.5%. The commuter interchange between the Janesville MSA and the Rockford MSA with Ogle County was 11.9%.

So, even though they are nearly the same, technically the Janesville MSA has a higher connection with Madison despite being closer to Rockford.

If the "Madison" 12.5% increases to at least 15% it is possible that Janesville could join in a CSA with Madison.

If the "Rockford" 11.9% increases to at least 15% it is possible that Janesville could join in a CSA with Rockford. However, that's only if Rockford isn't already in a CSA with Chicago.

[globill]

I think that sort of highlights the increasing linkages. You really should work for the Census hud.

My feeling though is that the booming I-90 corridor that is barrelling towards Rockford/Belvidere, will increase the relationship between Janesville and Rockford faster than what is happening with Madison/Janesville.

Time will tell.

In fact I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of households in places like Janesville have one family member heading north to Madison and another heading south to Rockford, a half an hour in both directions. Janesville's economy has been treading water but it's population is growing. It's within an hours drive over 1,000,000 people.

[edsg25]

I realize that the lines that connect these areas can always be extended outward for eternity (or at least until they hit the coasts!), but is there any thought the Twin cities would be linked with the four cities mentioned?

I have my doubts. The Twin Cities thrieve, but they really are upper, upper Midwest, rather removed from the Chicago-Milwaukee belt on the lower Great Lakes and its inward extension to Rockford and Madison. They are also much further afield than the other four are to each other. Still, Mpls-StP is a progressive, advanced and advancing region and should have some degree of relationship to the region on Lake Michigan's s.w. shores.

[globill]

Unless the States manages to build some French-style high-speed trains with frequent service between the Twin Cities and Madison, not any time soon.

It is sort of strange to think though, that even though it is what 300 miles between the two, Madison is in many ways the Twin Cities closest major neighboring city.

So possibly despite the distance, certain linkages are bound to evolve (think Fairbanks-Anchorage).


Speaking of trains, came across an article awhile back regarding the planned rail connection between Milwaukee and Madison and due to logistics, there is virtually no way it would actually enter the isthmus.

Here's a question for you Edsg, what if the isthmus were angled NW/SE as opposed to NE/SW? How would that have affected Metro Madison's growth? My guess is this whole discussion would have been conducted 20 years ago as Madison would have sprawled directly towards Rockford,Milwaukee and Chicago.

[Milwaukee, WY]

Originally Posted by edsg25

I mean no insult on this one and hope it isn't taken in an insulting way, but is Rockford really capable of putting itself in a Chicago/Milwaukee/Madison category? Nothing against Rockford, but there is nothing that would make me see how it would be included with the other three other than the Madison-Chicago edge of the triangle goes through it. Rockford at this point of its development is hardly a major player.

I agree! Rockford sucks. My mother grew up there and I spent a lot of time there as a kid while my grandparents were still alive, and that place is a pit. Take a drive through the West side, you'll see. I don't see them offering anything useful to the "supermegametroland" except for maybe UPS.

Rant over.

[globill]

Mil,

The west side is a bit sketchy, but the booming east side is more or less indistinguishable from most middle class American sprawl, except with a Chicago accent (Mexican restaurants, sushi etc.)

The big draw for Rockford is affordable housing. That's why it is growing so fast.

[Bennbucktown]

Globill I have been reading your information and fully agree with what you are saying. I live in Bucktown/Wicker Park which is about 5 minutes North of Downtown Chicago. Anyone who doesn't agree should notice what they experience when driving between Downtown Chicago and Madison on 90 at 3:30 PM any weekday. About three years ago I left Chicago to drive out west via this route and quickly noticed several things:

1. Heavy rush hour traffic was almost continuous from downtown all the way to Madison.

2. The immediate Chicago metropolitan area now extends well beyond Elgin to past the Hampshire exit on the Northwest tollway. For years an outlet mall has been there plus many new homes/subdivisions have been built just in the last 8 years. Now you see new suburban developments, restaurants, and shops under construction several miles beyond this exit.

3. Once you get past that point on the Northwest tollway you are less than 30 miles from Rockford where a large Chrysler plant is located. Lots of jobs there and many people that are employed at the plant live in the general vicinity. After you pass the plant you begin hitting Rockford and it's suburbs. It won't take much additional development for one metro to run in to the other. I believe its likely to happen in the next 10-20 years.

4. After passing North of Rockford you immediately hit Janesville/Beloit which is considered it's own MSA but is JUST NORTH of Rockford. I believe you pointed out significance of this section in the thread and I agree it is significant. It is almost a filler area that can grow as another living option for people in both Rockford and Madision.

5. Shortly after Janesville/Beloit you begin hitting the outskirts of Madison. Considering the number of plants and businesses spread through these areas in between there isn't a considerable amount of rural areas. These areas are also ideal for businesses to locate as land is more plentiful and affordable (much like it is more attractive to build a large logistics warehouse in Southwest Will County vs Cook or DuPage).

6. All of these areas are virtually stacked next to each other with a little space in between. In reality the amount of open rural area between these cities is no greater than say the amount of open space that exists between Chicago and Milwaukee on 94.

7. I also began to think of in broader terms of an even larger megalopolis when you consider a drive EAST of Chicago on 94. This whole region can be compared to the I-95 corrider that is considered the "BOSWASH" (Boston to D.C.) megalopolis. You essentially have metros that almost run in to each other (with some rural in between) all the way from D.C. to Boston.

8. Chicago is already considered to be in the "CHIPITTS" (Chicago to Pittsburgh) megalopolis. This includes the areas we are discussing here (Madision/Milwaukee) and extends Southeast around the lake to Chicago, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Windsor, Toledo, Cleveland, and then Pittsburgh. This entire region consists of over 30 million.

[globill]

Benn-

Your observations are spot on.

Here are a few of the growth rates on towns between Elgin and Rockford along the i-90 corridor.
stats for the period 2000-2006

Hampshire- +50.6%
Gilberts +310%!!!
Huntley +249%
Belvidere +24%
Genoa +14%
Marengo +18%

These sorts of numbers are usually found in places like Nevada and Arizona, not northern Illinois.

It seems to me that the Tollway really needs to be widened, at least to the state line. Not to mention the need for commuter rail from Elgin all the way to Madison.

Speaking of which, Illinois is making a big mistake by allowing Wisconsin to dictate that high speed rail between Chicago and Madison must go through Milwaukee. That totally ignores the 750,000 people living in the direct line between Madison-Chicago, not to mention totally bypassing O'Hare.

While Wisconsin is busy preparing tracks between Mil-Mad, Illinois, led by inept Chicago Democrats, is asleep at the wheel...

[jpIllInoIs]

^ I wouldn't say Ill is asleep at the wheel in terms of High Speed rail. They are concentrating their resources on the Chi-STL & CHI to DET routes. It cannot all be done at once. These 2 routes offer the highest return for the dollar. Meanwhile Ill Sen. Durbin has been pushing through funding to bring back the Blackhawk Amtrak line serving Chi-Rckfd-Dubuqe. And Ill is subsidising the Amtrak Hiawatha line so that we now have 7 round trips daily between Chi-Milw.

As far as the CHI-Rkfrd-Madison highspeed line...how can IL force Wi to spend their transit investment dollars on the Mad-Rkfrd line? And why wouldn't Wisconsin prefer the Mad-Mke line?

[brewcityfan]

Originally Posted by jpIllInoIs

^ I wouldn't say Ill is asleep at the wheel in terms of High Speed rail. They are concentrating their resources on the Chi-STL & CHI to DET routes. It cannot all be done at once. These 2 routes offer the highest return for the dollar. Meanwhile Ill Sen. Durbin has been pushing through funding to bring back the Blackhawk Amtrak line serving Chi-Rckfd-Dubuqe. And Ill is subsidising the Amtrak Hiawatha line so that we now have 7 round trips daily between Chi-Milw.

As far as the CHI-Rkfrd-Madison highspeed line...how can IL force Wi to spend their transit investment dollars on the Mad-Rkfrd line? And why wouldn't Wisconsin prefer the Mad-Mke line?

Right now Wisconsin is in a pickle concerning spending. Wisconsin legislature is stuck between Assembly Republicans who don't want "foolish" spending vs Senate Democrats who are probably more focused on a universal healthcare plan over transit.

High speed rail was proposed btw Milwaukee and Madison years ago but was rejected by western Milwaukee suburbs in Waukesha County, which led to the county rejecting the whole proposal because they didn't want to fund it.

Currently the KRM from Milwaukee to Kenosha is grinding along. However, I see it almost coming to a halt if there's no budget in it. No one in Wisconsin can agree to a funding source, and won't allow the taxpayers to decide the fate through a referendum.

Probably the only feasible thing I can see being done from this thread was Mike's talk of US 12 turning into a bypass expressway.

[Markitect]

Originally Posted by brewcityfan

High speed rail was proposed btw Milwaukee and Madison years ago but was rejected by western Milwaukee suburbs in Waukesha County, which led to the county rejecting the whole proposal because they didn't want to fund it.

No, that was for light rail connecting Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties.

The proposal for extending Amtrak's Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Madison, and also upgrading the entire intercity Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison service to "higher speed" rail is still actively being sought out as part of the overall Midwest High Speed Rail initiative. It has nothing at all do to with any defunct light rail proposals.


As for why there is no higher speed rail route being proposed in the Chicago-Rockford-Madison corridor...it most likely boils down to demand and the fact that the rails in that particular corridor were never groomed for very fast trains to begin with, in the historical sense...whereas the rail corridor running Chicago-Milwaukee-and points westward was part of a transcontinental spine groomed for crack passenger train service over which operated some of the fasted-scheduled trains in the world at the time. Even though those trains have not run for decades, the right-of-way along that route is still the most optimum route for reinstating fast trains between Illiniois and Wisconsin (and on to the Twin Cities).

[globill]

Not that I think a real high speed network would actually be built any time soon, I think it is certainly debatable as to which route between Madison and Chicago would be better.

The Rockford and Janesville areas are growing at faster rates than Milwaukee and together have about 600,000 people. And O'Hare, the largest (some years) airport in the world definitely needs to be connected to this system. And face it, it would be a lot easier to route tracks from the Northwest into the Loop/Union Station than from the north shore/north side.

And the FACT is, the most direct route from the Twin Cities-Madison-Chicago does not go through Milwaukee.

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by globill

Not that I think a real high speed network would actually be built any time soon, I think it is certainly debatable as to which route between Madison and Chicago would be better.

The Rockford and Janesville areas are growing at faster rates than Milwaukee and together have about 600,000 people. And O'Hare, the largest (some years) airport in the world definitely needs to be connected to this system. And face it, it would be a lot easier to route tracks from the Northwest into the Loop/Union Station than from the north shore/north side.

And the FACT is, the most direct route from the Twin Cities-Madison-Chicago does not go through Milwaukee.

And the FACT is that nobody has any money to expand service of existing passenger rail between states, let alone build whole new rights of way. It's a matter of whether you want the train to go through an area with approximately 600,000 people or through an area with between 2 or 3 times that.

[globill]

And avoid O'Hare entirely?

[Markitect]

There actually is a proposal to route the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison-Twin Cities higher speed rail line over to O'Hare. It's just been omitted from that particular map.

[KrazyKarl]

Originally Posted by globill

Benn-

It seems to me that the Tollway really needs to be widened, at least to the state line.

They're getting a start on this process now. In the Rockford area, I-90 is being widened to three lanes between Newburg Rd. (just north of the Cherry Valley interchange) and Rockton Rd (just shy of Wisconsin.) The job should be complete by 2009.

[mgk920]

Originally Posted by KrazyKarl

They're getting a start on this process now. In the Rockford area, I-90 is being widened to three lanes between Newburg Rd. (just north of the Cherry Valley interchange) and Rockton Rd (just shy of Wisconsin.) The job should be complete by 2009.

I'd love to see WisDOT extend that extra lane to at least I-43 and redesign that woeful tight old cloverleaf interchange with free-flow ramps for the interstate to interstate connections and separating the local Beloit, WI city street to the west from that mess and reconnecting it to the local streets to the east.

----------------------------------

In addition to US 12, IMHO, WI 26 between I-39/90 at Janesville, WI and US 151 in the Beaver Dam/Waupun, WI area (and on to US 41 at Oshkosh, WI) is another 'bubbling up' highway corridor in that part of the state and like US 12 is also being steadily upgraded. It is a major connection between NE Wisconsin and the southern USA - bypassing Milwaukee and Chicagoland.

Mike

[globill]

I am sure you will see some major improvements in the area as Beloit's Gateway Park is seeing some major investment.

from the Capital Region Business Journal

http://www.madison.com/crbj/200707/i...198980&ntpid=4

When Kettle Foods was looking for a place to locate its third potato chip plant — the others are in Salem, Ore. and England - the company narrowed the list to eight finalist sites.
Advertisement

The sites were among a growing cluster of food processing and manufacturing businesses which includes more than 130 companies that make or contribute to food sold worldwide. Some are household names and some fill lower-profile, highly specialized niches in the food industry.

That cluster is centered in eight counties along the Wisconsin-Illinois state line.

Kettle officials eventually selected Beloit for the $18 million, 70,000-square-foot facility that started production this spring in Gateway Business Park, hiring 88 new employs. A grand opening will be held in September.

"There are a lot of similarities between Beloit and our hometown of Salem - beautiful country, strong infrastructure and great people," said Tim Fallon, president of Kettle Foods North America.
Kerry Americas to expand

Kerry Americas will soon break ground on a $45-million, 200,000-square foot building project in the Gateway Business Park at the intersection of Interstate 39-90 and Interstate 43 in Beloit. The Kerry Centre will house nearly 500 employees and create 250 new jobs.

The Centre will provide the company's customers access to Kerry's technologies, application center and research and development labs at one location. Egan said the company was looking for a site in which customers can come in and work with the company on research and testing.

Company officials considered Illinois for the expansion but chose Beloit because of the cooperative spirit of state and local forces, including a $4.7 million pledge by the city of Beloit to improve infrastructure. Egan said the area's proximity to Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison also was a draw.

"We could establish the Kerry Centre pretty much anywhere," he said. But taking into account the availability of property, building costs and the presence of a solid work force, Beloit made sense.

"It's a pretty great place to be," Egan said. "The people in the greater Beloit area are passionate, they're committed. It's a great place to work. We all feel like we're part of a pretty large family."

Business friendly atmosphere

Fallon, of Kettle Foods, said the snack food manufacturer first looked at the Beloit area because of its central location in Russet potato country, a product used exclusively at Kettle.

But it was ultimately the business-friendly atmosphere created by the governor, Beloit and Rock County that Fallon said clinched the location.

The state Department of Commerce provided the company with a $500,000 major economic development project forgivable loan, Beloit constructed a new road and extended utilities to the building site and the state Department of Transportation has approved a TEA grant to provide matching funds for road improvements.

"The commitment to high quality manufacturing and a skilled labor force is an excellent match for our corporate values and company culture. This, paired with the close proximity to major transportation and distribution hubs, makes Beloit the right choice for us as we prepare to meet the growing demand for Kettle brand potato chips in the Midwest and on the East coast," Fallon said.

Those associated with the food processing and manufacturing cluster expect it to continue to grow and prosper.

"Given the substantial level of interest and investment, there is every reason to believe that this region will continue to attract and retain quality food processors, as well as providers of goods and services to the food processing industry," Loudenbeck said.

[Azn_chi_boi]

When I went to this new mall in Aloquin (however you spell that name). I see houses are booming and new comerical area are booming on former corn-fields and swampy areas everywhere.

When I went to Wisconsin Dells with using I-90, the empty spaces between Rockford and Chicago, are probably less than 40 minutes away from each other.

I would not be surprise if another lane is being added each directions on I-90 in a few years.

[globill]

here's a Crain's story on Gilberts....a town that is halfway between Chicago and Rockford.

Not many people have heard of Gilberts, but it's on a course to become the next Naperville.

http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?...nnel=717773684

Gilberts, along with nearby Huntley, are the 2 fastest growing municipalities in the Chicago Metro. And the one thing they have in common is the Tollway between Rockford and Chicago.