For passengers, commuter rail service is one of the best deals around. Shrinking the distance of the suburbs and exurbs from Chicago s central business district, has had and will have adverse implications for the preservation of agricultural land. Since shortly after World War II, the rise of the automobile and the evolution of the regional highway system have enabled persons and businesses to move from the central city to ever more distant suburban and exurban locales. Chicago s population peaked during the early 1950s, when Lake Shore Drive was the only expressway in the region, and has been steadily declining, dropping by over 800,000 from 1950 through 1990. The suburban population of the six collar counties has exploded over the same period of time, increasing by nearly 3 million along multiple growth corridors centered on new highways.
Traffic is dense both in and out of the city.
The Dan Ryan and Interstate 57 serviced areas to the south. The Stevenson and Interstate 55 were built toward the southwest. The Eisenhower extended west. The Kennedy and Interstate 90 pushed northwest. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Illinois Tollway Authority extended the Eisenhower west toward Iowa along its East-West Tollway and the Kennedy to the Wisconsin border along its Northwest Tollway.