Many people have asked what the overhead signs are for on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, since they are not yet operational. The 56 signs are placed about a half-mile apart on I-90 between O'Hare International Airport and Barrington Road.
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The new technology called SmartRoad. A series of arrows will alert drivers to traffic conditions ahead, allowing them to safely merge away from incidents that are blocking lanes, well in advance.
"The data is coming from sensors, cameras and other technology that we've installed on the road. It's all coming right back here to our TIMMS center. That information is then being accumulated and being sent back to the road via technology fiber to the gantry and the message boards," Illinois Tollway Executive Director Greg Bedalov said.
The SmartRoad signs are expected to go live next month.
More improvements will also wrap up this year on I-90. Crews will finish the Barrington Road interchange, along with a new park-and-ride facility. The Roselle Road interchange will be complete this year, adding a new westbound entrance ramp from Central Road. Elmhurst Road will have full access this year, with a new diverging-diamond interchange.
The tollway will spend nearly $1 billion this year on construction and design. The biggest project is the ongoing eastern expansion of Route 390, which used to be called the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway.
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By the end of the year, not only will Route 390 extend east to Route 83, but the interchanges at Route 83, Wood Dale Road, Prospect Avenue/Arlington Heights Road and I-290 will all be finished.
Other major tollway projects this year include finishing the reconstruction of the Farnsworth Avenue bridge over the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) and pavement and bridge repairs to the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) at the mile-long bridge south of I-55, which will wrap up in 2018.
Speaking of the Tri-State, the tollway is moving forward with planning for the $4 billion rebuilding of the central Tri-State between 95th St. and Balmoral. They also announced they will be able to do this without raising tolls.
Next week, Roz will get answers about the new pedestrian flyover ramp at Navy Pier, which isn't open yet.