Illiana Expressway
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| Begin | Wilmington, IL | ||
| End | Lowell, IN | ||
| Length | 75 km | ||
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According to 800zipcodes.com, the Illiana Expressway is a scheduled toll road in the US states of Illinois and Indiana. The highway is to form an east-west connection approximately 75 kilometers south of Chicago, between Interstate 55 in Illinois and Interstate 65 in Indiana.
Travel directions
The likely route will join I-55 at Wilmington and run east through flat prairie land and intersect I-57 north of Manteno. East of Lowell, the Illiana Expressway will connect to I-65. About three quarters of the route passes through the state of Illinois and a quarter in Indiana. The route runs approximately 20 miles south of Interstate 80, through undeveloped area.
History
As early as the 1960s and 1970s, studies were conducted into the construction of an east-west route south of I-80. Feasibility studies were carried out in 2009 and 2010. Construction of the Illiana Expressway became concrete in 2010 when the Illinois and Indiana governors signed an agreement. The Illiana Expressway will be the third east-west highway south of Chicago between the two states, and the first new east-west route since the Borman Expressway (I-80) opened in 1953.
Future
Between 2011 and 2013, the studies were elaborated for the construction of the Illiana Expressway. Original plans envisioned an eastbound extension into Indiana from I-65 to I-94 at the Michigan border, but legislation prohibits a competitor to the Indiana Toll Road. The chance that the Illiana Expressway will be extended to I-94 is therefore small. A westbound extension of the highway from I-55 to I-80 in Illinois would make sense for through traffic, but is not currently being considered. On October 17, 2013, the construction of the toll road was approved by the states, and on December 12, 2014, the FHWA gave its approval.
The Illiana Expressway is built through undeveloped prairie land, consisting of meadows, about 15 kilometers south of the southern suburbs of Chicago. This anticipates the further growth of the suburban area. Much of the route runs through southern Will County in Illinois, which grew by 175,000 residents between 2000 and 2010, but that growth has occurred entirely in northern Will County. A new airport is also planned in the area at Peotone on I-57, right where the Illiana Expressway will pass. The project has been criticized for very low traffic volumes on the existing roads in this area, while the toll road is too far south to relieve Interstate 80. However, the project received broad administrative support. The state of Indiana still wants to carry out the project.
Tol
The Illiana Expressway will be constructed as a PPP project as a toll road. It would be obvious to introduce electronic toll collection, but fully electronic toll roads are not yet available in either Illinois or Indiana. However, toll roads are not an unknown phenomenon in both states.
Way number
There is no road number known for the Illiana Expressway yet. It seems unlikely that it will become an Interstate Highway.
Jane Addams Memorial Tollway
| I-90 | |||
| Get started | Rockford | ||
| End | O’Hare Airport | ||
| Length | 78 mi | ||
| Length | 126 km | ||
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The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway is part of Interstate 90 in Illinois and is a toll road between the Wisconsin border and Chicago Airport. The toll road is 126 kilometers long.
Travel directions
The toll road begins just south of the Wisconsin state border. This section runs through an urbanized area of the city of Rockford. The section to Rockford is double -numbered with Interstate 39. At Rockford, the highway turns southeast and travels approximately 25 miles (40 km) through sparsely populated countryside before reaching the outer suburbs of Chicago. From this point it is 80 kilometers to downtown Chicago. The toll road runs through the large suburb of Elgin, after which the urban area is denser. Interstate 290 is crossed at the suburb of Schaumburg, after which the toll road runs along the north side of O’Hare Airport to Interstate 294 and Interstate 190.crosses. After that, the toll road becomes the Kennedy Expressway, which is toll-free.
History
The highway opened to traffic for its entire length on August 20, 1958. It was the first highway between two major Illinois cities to be completed. The toll road was originally called the Northwest Expressway but was renamed the Jane Addams Tollway in 2007. The turnpike is named after Jane Addams (1860-1935), the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Widenings
In the period 2012-2014, I-90 between Rockford and Elgin was widened to 2×3 lanes. In 2013, the carriageway to Chicago has been provided with 3 lanes. In 2014, the carriageway to Rockford has been provided with 3 lanes. The extra lanes opened to traffic on October 28, 2014. The cost of this was approximately $600 million and will be financed from the existing tolls.
Between 2013 and 2016, I-90 in the Chicago suburban area between the Kennedy Expressway and Elgin was widened from 2×3 to 2×4 lanes for 40 kilometers. The cost was $1.1 billion and was financed with the existing tolls. In 2017, traffic signals were also placed on a 26-kilometre stretch in the western suburbs of Chicago. This consists of portals that span the entire roadway every 800 meters. It was one of the first systems of this type of traffic signaling outside the Seattle area.
Toll
The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway is a toll road, operated by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. The toll is fully electronic with the I-Pass. The E-ZPass is also accepted.
Traffic intensities
40,000 vehicles drive daily on the Wisconsin border, rising to 53,000 vehicles in Rockford. There were 47,000 vehicles east of Rockford, rising to 52,000 vehicles at the Huntley suburb, then rapidly increasing to 109,000 vehicles in Elgin and 140,000 vehicles west of I-290. Between I-290 and I-294, 142,000 to 173,000 vehicles drove every 24 hours.
