How will tollway’s $2 billion capital plan impact your commute?

Illinois tollway leaders approved a new $2 billion, seven-year capital program Thursday that includes improvements to trouble spots in Cook, DuPage and Lake counties.

The “Bridging the Future” initiative provides a transition between the massive 15-year, $14 billion Move Illinois program that winds down in 2027 and the next big capital plan, officials said.

Bridging the Future “is really allowing us to continue to connect with communities to help us continue our work on modernizing the system and most importantly improving mobility across the tollway system,” Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse said.

“We’re looking at this as a ‘Phase One’ for a longer-term capital program.”

The capital plan runs from 2025 to 2031. Along with modernizing infrastructure it will pay for designing future projects.

That includes coming up with an engineering solution to fix congestion at the I-355 and I-88 interchange near Downers Grove.

“It’s one of our most complicated interchanges,” Chief Engineer Manar Nashif said. “We get backups on I-355. We get backups on I-88, so it’s really important to address this.”

Another improvement is at Route 390′s western terminus at Lake Street in Hanover Park. Engineers plan to expand the interchange, running ramps to County Farm Road, thereby preventing cut-through drivers traveling through neighborhoods.

“It’s going to make a big difference for us getting all that traffic away,” Hanover Park Mayor Rod Craig said.

The tollway also will continue removing outdated toll collection infrastructure such as barriers, booths and canopies from the system.

That work will “provide free-flowing traffic that significantly enhances safety for our drivers,” Rouse said.

Other projects include:

• Bridge and pavement repairs to I-90 between Elgin and I-39.

• Replacing the Lake-Cook Road bridge over the Tri-State.

• Crossroad bridge reconstruction on the north end of the Tri-State.

• New access to the southbound Tri-State from Oak Brook. The tollway plans to build a ramp connecting York Road to an existing ramp that carries eastbound I-88 traffic to southbound I-294.

“It will be a significant improvement for travelers to that area,” Nashif said.

Asked why there were no public hearings on the new capital plan as with Move Illinois, Rouse said, “there’s no toll increase.” Move Illinois approved in 2011 nearly doubled tolls.

“But we did have voices from the community within what we planned in our bridging,” she noted, referencing the tollway’s 43-member Stakeholder Advisory Team.

The advisory group included representatives from the building and trucking industry, transportation agencies, labor, and business and environmental advocates. Members recently completed a report with recommendations on long-term capital planning.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241219/transportation/how-will-tollways-2-billion-capital-plan-impact-your-commute/