Speed Toll Retrofits in Chicago

The Illinois State Toll Hwy Auth (ISTHA) is moving ahead strongly to convert toll plazas to full highway speed tolling. It has work under way at three plazas to provide what it calls I-PASS Express Lanes. A typical conversion is its Aurora toll plaza on I-88, the East-West Tollway. Currently, the Aurora plaza consists of 12 toll lanes - 3 automatic coin and 3 manual in each direction. The plaza is being reconstructed to 14 toll lanes - 2 automatic coin, 4 manual and one I-PASS Express Lane in each direction. The work is part of a $24.8m contract that also involves repairs to another plaza. Due for completion May 00.

Other I-PASS Express lanes will be available later this year at the Army Trail toll plaza on the North-South Tollway (I-355) and at the 163rd St toll plaza on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). I-PASS Express lanes at the Boughton Road plaza opened Feb 5 this year and at the new Edens Spur Toll Plaza also on I-355 last year.

In regular I-PASS ONLY, where electronic tolling (ET) has been retrofitted to a regular toll lane, ISTHA has a posted speed limit of 15mph. ET transponders are now in use by 250k motorists in the Chicago area and all plazas in the system have been fitted with antennas and readers since the end of last year. The IL tollway system collects 1.2m tolls day (Lotsa li’l tolls.) Traffic volumes have been growing 4%/yr in recent years. ISTHA says ET is a key to managing these growing traffic volumes.