A cornucopia of customer-friendly features are available on the Illinois Tollway’s website, illinoistollway.com, to help Thanksgiving travelers, from real-time traffic information to Trip Tweets for incident information on each of the five tollroads to I-PASS account management tools. One useful resource is the Trip Calculator. Tollway customers can use Trip Calculator to determine in advance how much they will pay in tolls along a designated route or use the pay online feature to identify and pay for any missed tolls to avoid violations.

This is what the Illinois Tollway Trip Calculator looks like if you are planning a trip from Aurora to the York Road plaza in Elmhurst. (CREDIT: Illinois Tollway Trip Calculator screenshot)

“With more vehicles on the tollway system this Thanksgiving, we want customers to know that we provide a variety of helpful online tools that are fully accessible from mobile devices,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Greg Bedalov. “These online resources help make travel on the Tollway system safer and more efficient for Tollway customers making the annual pilgrimage to grandmother’s house.”

Missed Tolls and I-Pass

The Illinois Tollway allows a seven-day grace period to pay for any missed tolls. This helps cash-paying customers avoid toll violations in the event they go through one of the growing number of cashless tolling facilities on the Tollway system. That includes the Illinois Route 390 Tollway, the Tri-State Tollway (I-294)/I-57 Interchange and several new ramps opening as part of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) Rebuilding and Widening Project. Toll plazas that have I-PASS or Pay Online lanes are also identified in the tolling information section of the Tollway’s website.

I-PASS customers who are renting vehicles for their Thanksgiving excursions can now add temporary license plate information to their accounts. The ability to add rental vehicles allows I-PASS customers to use their own transponders to pay tolls anywhere I-PASS or E-ZPass are accepted, including the Chicago Skyway, Indiana Toll Road and 14 other states.

To accommodate increased Thanksgiving holiday travel on the Illinois Tollway, most construction activity will be restricted to better serve Tollway customers. Most temporary maintenance and construction lane closures will be suspended from noon on Wednesday, November 23, through 9 a.m. on Monday, November 28. Some work may continue behind barriers to keep work on schedule.

Electronic message signs and construction signage are in place to alert drivers in advance to construction and lane closures. Traffic shifts and lane closures are necessary to provide a work zone to safely accommodate construction and maintain access for drivers. Drivers are reminded to slow downand follow posted speed limits in construction work zones, which are in effect 24/7 even if no workers are present.

Thanksgiving Weekend Roadwork

Areas where work zones will continue to be in place during the holiday include:

Jane Adams Memorial Tollway (I-90)

• Between the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and the Elgin Toll Plaza, work is wrapping up for the I-90 Rebuilding and Widening Project.
  • Four lanes open in both directions between Roselle Road to just east of Arlington Heights Road and also between the Elgin Toll Plaza and Beverly Road.
  • Three lanes are open in both directions between Beverly Road and Roselle Road and from just east of Arlington Heights Road to Mannheim Road.
• The new Meacham Road Interchange is open with a westbound exit ramp and a westbound entrance ramp.
• A new eastbound exit ramp is now open at the Roselle Road Interchange. Illinois Route 390 Tollway

Illinois Route 390 Tollway

Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88)

• Between U.S. Route 30 in Rock Falls and Chicago Avenue (U.S. Route 52) near Dixon, traffic is reduced to one lane in both directions.

Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355)

• Between 63rd Street and 75th Street, traffic is shifted on I-355 and on and the ramps from southbound I-355 to 75th Street.

Tollway Travel Tips

The Tollway offers the following ways for drivers to get the latest travel information before they get on the road:

• www.illinoistollway.com – Construction/Planning section, Tollway Trip Calculator, live roadway images and real-time roadway incident information
• 1-800-TOLL-FYI – Daily lane closure and travel information
• www.travelmidwest.com – Real-time travel times
• www.twitter.com – Real-time roadway incidents

How to Navigate Tollway’s New Website

SOURCE: Illinois Tollway news release