I-88 interchange at Rt. 47 to become full access next year

The Illinois Tollway Board of Directors approved multi-party intergovernmental agreement Oct. 25 with the Village of Sugar Grove, Kane County and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) authorizing the financing and construction for a new interchange at Route 47 and the I-88 Tollway in Sugar Grove.

The $25 million project will realign existing ramps and build new ramps to create a new, full-access $25 million interchange. Construction is expected to begin in early 2019 with completion by the end of the year, according to the tollway authority.

The project will also include rehabilitation of the existing bridge on Route 47 over I-88. Existing ramps constructed in the early 1970’s only provided for travel to and from the west on I-88.

“A full-access interchange will put us on the map to kick start economic development and will open up access between the Tollway and along Illinois Route 47, a regional north-south transportation route extending from Wisconsin into Central Illinois,” said Sugar Grove Village President Sean Michels. “These are improvements that will benefit the residents and businesses in Sugar Grove as well as Elburn and western Kane County.”

The project should also benefit many Kendall County area commuters who now must access I-88 at interchanges on Orchard Road, Route 31 and Eola Road, all in Aurora, if they wish to travel eastbound on the tollway.

The intergovernmental agreement will be approved by all of the participants and designate the tollway authority as the lead agency for construction of the interchange.

Under the agreements, the tollway authority has agreed to finance no less than half of the project's costs.

Consistent with the tollway authority's interchange and roadway cost-sharing policy requiring local communities to cover the remaining cost of interchange improvements, the local share will be split: IDOT will contribute approximately 25 percent and the remainder will be funded by Sugar Grove and Kane County.

Sugar Grove has also already funded the cost of preliminary design and engineering studies, as required by the tollway authority.