It seems like most of the improvements are happening south of Dwight for hsr. What us being done for the section between Dwight and Joliet? Thanks for the history. That explains alot.
Chicago-Dwight improvements are included in an unfunded application IL submitted entitled something like Chicago Hub Improvements. It also includes improvements Chicago-Rondout (
Hiawatha line), Chicago-Aurora (BNSF line west for CZ/SWC/Quincy/Iowa trains), Chicago-Porter (virtually all Chicago-East trains), perhaps another stretch of line as well. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't believe the application actually proposed any construction on those segments, just studies to determine what improvements would be necessary to support full build-out of services proposed in the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.
The full double-track future phase includes triple-track on the CHI-JOL segment. And, the (partially-funded) CREATE proposal includes rail-over-rail overpasses in a number of places CHI-JOL.
Of course, you asked JOL-DWT, and I didn't really answer that specifically.