Tollway Hike Key To Full I-90 Interchange at Route 47

A toll increase proposed by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority may be bad news for drivers, but its good news for the .

The 35-cent hike would allow the Illinois Tollway to build a full interchange at Route 47 and Interstate 90 a few years ahead of schedule, said agency spokesman Rocco Zucchero.

Under the Illinois Tollway’s capital project program, the Route 47 full interchange would not be built until 2013 or 2014, Zucchero said. The tollway already has spent the allotted sum of money it can spend on the project and must wait a few years to precede, he said.

An infusion of $12 million, the amount a toll hike would generate, would allow Illinois Tollway to build the full Route 47 interchange by 2012, Zucchero said after a public hearing Friday.

The village of Huntley is a partner with the Illinois Tollway, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Kane County and McHenry County in the $70 million project. Huntley is doing the engineering for the project and expects consultants will have engineering done by the end of the year.

Village Manager Dave Johnson said he hopes to have the project under construction by March 2012.

Tollway officials seem in sync with that date.

If the toll increase and the capital projects plan are approved, the Illinois Tollway could “deliver as soon as 2012,” Zucchero said.

Zucchero presented details on the toll increase and the capital projects it would fund at the public hearing Friday in Huntley. The Illinois Tollway held a series of hearings across the collar counties to get feedback from the public. Friday’s hearing drew engineers, laborers, construction workers and upset motorists.

A key issue proponents raised was the need for jobs. The road projects, including the reconstruction and widening of Interstate 90, would generate thousands of jobs in Kane and McHenry counties — jobs that are sorely needed in the area, speakers said.

McHenry County officials testified that the county needs access to I-90 for economic development. McHenry County is the largest county in the area without access to I-90, County Board Chairman Ken Koehler said.

“We’ve wanted to see something develop there for a long time,” Koehler said. “We have the capital and the financial support along with the land. We believe if this is approved, it will create a great economic engine for McHenry County now and when the economy picks up.”

What makes gaining access to I-90 more important is that Chicago Rockford International Airport will have the largest UPS depot in the world, Koehler said. The depot will have benefits to villages and cities along I-90 but won’t help McHenry if there is no full interchange, he said.

“This is extremely important,” he said. “I apologize, but if nothing else gets started, that project has to get started.”

Zucchero said about 800 people had attended hearings as of Friday and many expressed a desire to see interchanges throughout the tollway system be expanded. Many towns have partial interchanges because the system dates back to the 1950s when towns like Huntley were so small or rural that access wasn't an issue, he said.

Illinois Tollway officials added a hearing in Kane County to get more feedback. The latest hearing will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23, at Montgomery Village Hall, 200 N. River Road, Montgomery.