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"This is an exciting day for Will
County residents, who will soon enjoy a better quality of life
because they'll have a more direct route to get around their towns
and to their jobs without crawling down local roads. We moved fast
on this project to show Will County that the road is really going to
be built this time," Gov. Blagojevich said. "This new road is a key
component of the tollway's long-range plan that will boost the
economy by not only reducing congestion but also creating jobs."
Local residents attended the event to
express their support for this critical transportation link, which
has been planned for more than 10 years but lacked funding before
the governor supported the long-range plan, "Open Roads for a Faster
Future."
"I've lived in the south suburbs all
my life, and traffic here has gotten progressively worse as people
found this town to be an affordable place to live," said Mary Faron,
who is also a member of the Local Advisory Council on I-355 South.
"This extension of I-355 will make it so much easier to travel to
work and will free up local roads that are choked with traffic now.
We've been waiting for years to get this road built, and I'm glad to
see it's finally happening."
The extension of I-355 south is just
one component of the long-range plan to rebuild or restore about 90
percent of the tollway system, widen major roads and replace
tollbooths on the main line with Open Road Tolling.
"The goal of this new road and the
entire long-range plan is to reduce travel times in the Chicago
area, which has been rated the third-most-congested in the nation,"
said Jack Hartman, executive director of the Illinois Tollway. "Like
the rest of our mainline, this new road will use Open Road Tolling,
so we encourage tollway drivers to get I-PASS now so they can save
time and money on our existing system and on I-355 South when it is
completed in 2007.
Relief
for traffic-weary drivers
With the extension of I-355 from its
current terminus at the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) to I-80, Will
and southern Cook County residents will see significant reductions
in travel time. According to the Northeast Illinois Planning
Commission, the extension will reduce travel times to suburban job
centers by 12 to 14 minutes, or 20 percent, for an hour-long trip.
Additionally, travel times on Will County roads are expected to be
shaved by 13 percent for an hour-long trip because the I-355 South
Extension will ease the traffic load on local roads, which are often
the only current option for residents to travel to and from the rest
of the region. Also, the entire region will benefit from mobility
improvements that will more efficiently move goods, services and
employees between I-55 and I-80 and beyond.
Job
creation
The I-355 South Extension will give
Will County residents and businesses the access they need to jobs
and markets in northern Illinois and will create new jobs vital to
the economy. The Will County Center for Economic Development
estimates that the extension will lead to the creation of 150,000
manufacturing, distribution, white collar and service jobs by the
year 2030. Local economic development projects, such as the Joliet
Arsenal Redevelopment, are also expected to get a boost through more
direct access to I-55.
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this article] |
The massive, $730 million road
building project will also create about 36,000 construction jobs.
This includes nearly 18,000 direct construction jobs and 18,000 jobs
in industries that support the construction trades, according to the
U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (2003).
"The I-355 South Extension project
is bringing good-paying jobs to working families in Illinois," said
Dennis Gannon, president of Chicago Federation of Labor. "Our
members are excited to be a part of this project and to play a
critical role in the long-range plan that will also rebuild and
widen almost the entire Illinois Tollway."
Project
summary
The I-355 South Extension
construction project is expected to be completed by late 2007. The
first contract on the project was awarded Nov. 18 to T.J. Lambrecht
Construction for earthmoving and grading. Following the
groundbreaking ceremony, crews and heavy equipment from Lambrecht
will begin the initial work to clear the route south of the Des
Plaines River and prepare for major earthwork to begin next spring
and continue through October 2005 on the south end of the project.
No effect on drivers is expected in
the early stages of this project. The extension will look similar to
the south end of the current North-South Tollway -- where the road
is depressed and runs underneath existing local roads. This aids in
the reduction of roadway noise. There will be an occasional need to
move equipment over a crossroad. No equipment will be moved during
heavy traffic.
About the
Illinois Tollway
The Illinois State Toll Highway
Authority maintains and operates 274 miles of interstate tollways in
12 counties in northern Illinois, including the Ronald Reagan
Memorial Tollway, I-88; the North-South Tollway, I-355; the
Northwest Tollway, I-90; and the Tri-State Tollway, including I-94,
I-294 and I-80/I-294.
The Illinois Tollway offers
customers I-PASS electronic toll collection for congestion relief
and ease of travel. To buy an I-PASS, call 1 (800) UC-IPASS [(800)
824-7277], visit www.getipass.com
or go to Jewel-Osco, TravelMart at tollway oases or RoadRanger in
Rockford. I-PASS customers with existing accounts can also manage
their accounts online.
For more information, go to
www.illinoistollway.com.
"Get I-PASS and get going!"
[News release from the
governor's office]
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The Illinois Tollway's plan to build
the 12.5-mile South Extension of I-355 will improve mobility and
strengthen the economic outlook for residents and businesses in Will
County and the entire suburban area. As one of the fastest growing
counties in the state, Will County's population is projected to
exceed 1.1 million by 2030.
Strengthening the region's economy
The I-355 South Extension will serve
as a critical transportation link that will bolster northern
Illinois' transportation network by providing direct access that
will help people get from their homes in Will County to job-rich
areas in Cook and DuPage counties.
Increased
productivity
The construction of I-355 South will
allow businesses to grow by moving goods, services and employees
more quickly through Will and southern Cook counties. By providing a
direct tollway route to small and large businesses, as well as
corporate headquarters near O'Hare Airport and DuPage County, the
I-355 South Extension will:
- Reduce average travel times to
suburban job centers by 12 to 15 minutes, or 20 percent, for an
hour-long trip. (Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission)
- Reduce local travel times in Will
County by six to nine minutes, or 13 percent, on an hour-long trip
by reducing traffic loads on existing local roads. (Northeastern
Illinois Planning Commission)
- Improve regional mobility by 144
percent by providing a direct route between I-55 and I-80 to
reduce travel times throughout the region. (Illinois Department of
Transportation)
- Reduce delays that cost truckers
and motorists an estimated $1,200 in fuel costs and lost
productivity each year in the Chicago area, which is the
third-most-congested area in the state. (Texas Transportation
Institute's 2002 Annual Urban Mobility Report)
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this section] |
Jobs
Extending I-355 South not only
provides Will County residents and business the access they need to
jobs and markets in northern Illinois and will create new jobs vital
to the economy. The massive construction of a new toll road but will
create thousands of new jobs as well.
- An estimated 35,625 construction
jobs will be created. This reflects 17,955 direct jobs and 17,670
indirect construction jobs. (U.S. Congress, House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, 2003)
- 150,000 manufacturing,
distribution, white collar and service jobs would be created by
the year 2030. (Will County Center for Economic Development)
- Should help grow the Joliet
Arsenal Redevelopment project, one of North America's largest
intermodal truck, rail and freight facilities which will have
easier, more direct access to I-55.
Economically efficient
The Illinois Tollway is paid for
only by the people who use the system; the tollway receives no
federal or state tax dollars.
[Illinois
Tollway] |
