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The Tri-State Tollway is a U.S. toll road maintained by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) in northeastern Illinois. It is actually a combination of three different Interstates:
The segment containing Interstate 294 is 53 miles (85 km) long; in total, the Tri-State Tollway is actually about 78 miles (126 km) long. Only the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway is longer in length. Despite its name, the Tri-State Tollway does not enter either Indiana or Wisconsin. On the Indiana side, the Tri-State Tollway ends three miles (5 km) away from the Indiana border and continues as the Kingery Expressway; however both the Kingery and the Indiana portion, which was later named the Borman Expressway, were known as the Tri-State Highway before the Tollway was completed. On the Wisconsin side, the toll road ends just before the border at U.S. Route 41 and Russell Road, although ISTHA maintenance continues to the state line.[2][3] The Tri-State Tollway is considered one of the busiest highways in the country (according to the IBBTA, the tollway is the nation's 6th most heavily traveled toll road[4]).
[edit] Features
[edit] Edens Spur
The Edens Spur is a 5 mile (8 km) cutover from the Tri-State Tollway to the Edens Expressway. It connects the Interstate 94 portions of the tollway and the Edens Expressway. It is technically a toll road. Northbound traffic on the Edens Expressway has the option of cutting over to the northbound Tri-State Tollway, or remaining on U.S. Highway 41 (Skokie Highway). Southbound traffic on the Tri-State Tollway has the option of cutting over to the southbound Edens Expressway, or remaining on the Tri-State Tollway on the loop Interstate 294. There are no other ways to enter the Edens Spur at the ends. There is one exit eastbound on the Edens Spur at Illinois Route 43 (Waukegan Road). There is also an entrance ramp to the Edens Spur westbound at that point. The spur has one toll barrier, as it is still part of the Illinois toll highway system. This toll plaza has been upgraded and now has (I-Pass) open tolling lanes, which have eliminated most congestion at this toll. [edit] LingoPortions of the Tri-State Tollway are referred to in somewhat archaic language during traffic reports and casual conversation. The following are the most common, from south to north:
[edit] HistoryThe Tri-State Tollway was built in the mid- to late 1950s as a bypass of Chicago, as the Indiana Toll Road-Chicago Skyway (opened in 1956) ran towards downtown. The first section opened August 28, 1958, running from Wisconsin south to and east along the Edens Spur. The rest of the road, from the Edens Spur south to the Calumet Expressway and Kingery Expressway, opened December 23 of the same year. It was at first marked as U.S. Highway 41 Toll, which continued east on the Kingery Expressway (now I-80/I-94) to Calumet Avenue (US 41) in Hammond, Indiana, and ended at the north end of the Tollway, where it merges with US 41. It was also marked as U.S. Highway 30 Toll between its south end (the Calumet Expressway was U.S. Highway 30 Alternate) and the East-West Tollway. In 1959 the Tollway was designated as parts of I-94 and I-294, and the short concurrency with I-80 was assigned. In 1998, the authority removed the entire multilane Deerfield Toll Plaza on the Tri-State, then considered one of the worst snags on the tollway system. To make up for the lost tolls, the Tollway Authority built the Huehl Road Toll Plaza on the Edens Spur to charge traffic that followed Interstate 94 into Chicago. In addition, tolls at the Waukegan Toll Plaza were increased, and additional toll plazas built on exits south of Deerfield at Lake-Cook Road, Willow Road and Golf Road (Illinois Route 58). Toll collection facilities were also added to entrance ramps to the northbound Tri-State at those points. [edit] Rebuild and widen projectsBy the year 2010, numerous portions of the Tri-State Tollway are scheduled to have been rebuilt and/or widened under the authority of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Various portions of the tollway are scheduled for completion throughout 2007-2009, with several already being completed. Plans for the Tri-State Tollway include three major projects: South Tri-State Tollway Rebuild & Widen, Central Tri-State Tollway Rebuild & Widen, and North Tri-State Tollway Rebuild & Widen. [edit] South Tri-State TollwayIn early 2005, road work began to rebuild and widen a 17.6-mile (28.3 km) stretch of the Tri-State Tollway from Illinois Route 394 in South Holland to 95th St. in Oak Lawn. The project is divided into two phases. Phase I includes the portion from Route 394 to 167th Street and was completed in late 2006. Phase II includes 159th Street to 95th Street and began in 2007. [6] [edit] Central Tri-State TollwayIn early 2007, construction began to rebuild and widen a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) portion of I-294 from Balmoral Ave. to Dempster St., north of which construction will continue as part of the North Tri-State Tollway plan. Once completed, this project will widen the tollway to four lanes in each direction. [7] Work on the northbound lanes is scheduled through mid-2008, and work on the southbound lanes will is scheduled to begin in late spring 2008. The project is scheduled to be completed by late 2009.[7] [edit] North Tri-State TollwayIn early 2007, road work began to rebuild and widen parts of the tollway from Dempster St. to the Illinois/Wisconsin state line. The plan calls for the rebuilding and widening of I-294 from Dempster St. to Lake-Cook Road, the rebuilding and widening of I-94 from Half Day Rd. to Grand Ave., and the rebuilding of I-94 from Grand Ave. to near the state line, which is in staggered conjunction with Wisconsin's I-94 project from the state line to the Plainfield Curve in Milwaukee to end in 2016. Noisewalls or sightscreens will also be added at various points along the toll road. [8] [edit] Exit list
[edit] Edens Spur
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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