Quote:
Originally Posted by sentinel
As sprawl continues west and south in Chicagoland, I can foresee the greater Rockford MSA being engulfed as part of the greater Chicago MSA. There's 330,000 people in that area, that's enough to put Chicagoland over 10 Million. Right now, the eastern part of Rockford/Belvidere is only 30 minutes/35 miles from Huntley, and even 10 minutes/10 miles less to Marengo.
|
As of March, IDOT is still deciding if rail service to Rockford should be Metra or Amtrak. If it ends up being Metra, that could very well be the momentum to bring in the Rockford MSA. Also, double track upgrades on the SSL will speed the commute from South Bend to Chicago to only 90 minutes. That's the same amount of time as to Aurora, Elgin, and Joliet, despite South Bend being much farther. With Buttigieg as head of DOT, I can imagine earmarked funds to bring the SSL to downtown South Bend.
If Chicagoland is able to eventually stretch that far out, that's an additional 650,000 residents to the metro area for little work