Politics & Government

Public Hearing on Tollway Price Hike

A proposed 15-year, $12 billion capital plan to improve Illinois tollways includes $8.08 billion to fund necessary improvements to the existing Tollway system.

These needs are programmed to be performed at the right time to keep the existing 286 miles of roadways in a state of good repair. Projects include:


• Reconstructing and widening the 52-year-old Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) from the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) to Rockford
• Reconstructing more than 20 miles of the central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and the Edens Spur (I-94)
• Preserving the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88)
• Preserving the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355)
• Repairing roads, bridges and maintenance facilities
• Other capital projects, including local interchanges

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In addition, the proposed capital plan commits an additional $4.07 billion for new projects that focus on enhancing mobility, including:

• Constructing a new interchange at I-294/I-57, as well as the 147th Street ramps
• Constructing the Elgin O’Hare West Bypass, including completion of the Elgin O’Hare, construction of the West Bypass between I-90 and I-294 and rehabilitation and widening of the existing Elgin O’Hare Expressway
• Planning for transit on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90)
• Planning studies for the Illinois Route 53 Corridor and the Illiana Expressway

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The proposed capital plan is financed by bonds backed by a toll increase effective January 1, 2012, for passenger vehicles and a previously approved commercial toll rate increase beginning in 2015. I-PASS customers would see a toll rate increase of 35 cents at a typical mainline toll plaza, with cash-paying passenger vehicles continuing to pay double the I-PASS rate.

With this increase, the average car trip on the Tollway system for an I-PASS customer would be $1.18 – up from today’s average of 63 cents per trip – an increase of $2.75 a week or $11 a month.

The proposal represents the first toll increase in 28 years for I-PASS users, who comprise 75 percent of the Illinois Tollway’s 1.4 million daily users.

The Illinois Tollway is a user-funded system that receives no state or federal tax dollars for maintenance and operation of the Tollway system. Only drivers who choose to use the Tollway pay for the Tollway.

Without the Illinois Tollway, the state would need to raise the gas tax by about 9 cents a gallon statewide to pay for maintenance and operation of existing Tollway roads – or 11-12 cents a gallon if the tax was only applied to the Tollway’s 12-county service area. To fund the infrastructure improvements included in this capital plan, the state would need to raise the gas tax by more than 20 cents a gallon – more than double the current gas tax rate.

For more information about the proposed capital plan or to watch a public hearing and submit a comment, go to www.illinoistollway.com.


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