Although consisting only of 294 centerline miles, the Illinois Tollway system’s five roads span 12 counties and carry more than 1.5 million daily drivers.
Other figures from the agency’s 2022 annual report reveal just how much happens on those 294 miles: Almost 80 million toll transactions each month – an average of 2.62 million per day – with 14% of vehicles identified as commercial and 86% passenger.
If you’re one of those drivers, or a resident of those dozen counties, it likely comes as little surprise that officials are, according to a Daily Herald report, already working on a new capital program to succeed the 15-year, $14 billion “Move Illinois” effort.
The tollway, which is supposed to fund maintenance and operations without federal or state tax revenue, is distinct from the entire Illinois Department of Transportation. The 2012 toll hike funded Move Illinois, which makes that a likely consideration for future efforts.
“At this time, no project, policy, or funding solution is on or off the table, but we are committed to continuing to be fiscally prudent while still providing the best possible service to our customers,” Tollway spokesman Dan Rozek said last week at a Chicago Urban League event. He said strategic planning “will be an open process designed to ensure that we hear from our customers, local communities and other stakeholders.”
In recorded remarks, Gov. JB Pritzker illustrated how the tollway’s operations – if not directly its finances – permeate the remainder of the transportation network and governmental priorities, whether that asserting the agency is “uniquely positioned to move creatively and swiftly to expand our (electric vehicle) charging network” or asking it “to find new ways to work with local transit agencies, in particular expanding its strong partnership with Pace.”
IDOT, which uses Move Illinois branding for its 2024 long-range plan, recently opened a simple online survey, tinyurl.com/MoveIllinois. On this subject, leaders can’t have too much citizen input.
ON THIS DAY: Theodore Thomas was born Oct. 11, 1835, in Germany. Already a prodigious violinist at age 10, the family moved to New York where Thomas flourished as a touring performer and orchestra leader before becoming the founding music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1891. He died of pneumonia in January 1905, having contracted the flu while rehearsing for the first concerts at the new Orchestra Hall. In 1928, Charles Edward Russell won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography “The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas,” available at archive.org.
It’s also the 10th birthday of the youngest of our four kids. Tomorrow is his first viola lesson. He’s been hearing his older brothers play cello since 2017 but, true to his independent nature, will forge his own musical path. Here’s to new adventures!
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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