Interchange Linking I-57 And I-294 To Open Soon
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two Chicago area interstates that have crossed paths for years, but never before connected to each other, should finally link up at the end of the month when a new interchange opens in the south suburbs.
WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports crews have been building new ramps connecting Interstate 57 and Interstate 294 just south of 147th Street, near Markham.
Illinois Tollway executive director Kristi Lafleur said officials expect thousands of motorists to use the new interchange each year once it opens at the end of October.
"People are going to be able to have direct access, and get from one interstate to the other if they're going northbound on 57 up to north 294, and then back down again from 294 to southbound 57," she said.
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Until now, drivers who wanted to switch from I-57 to I-294 had to make a four-mile detour along I-80 to make the connection.
The $700 million interchange project will provide the first direct link between the two expressways. Lafleur said that will make life simpler for truckers, and for anyone traveling from the western or northwestern suburbs to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or Memphis, Tennessee.
"If you're heading down to Champaign for a football game, or going on trucks that are trying to make deliveries or move freight down south, they're not able to get direct access now," Lafleur said.
The interchange will have an unmanned electronic toll plaza that accepts only I-Pass, but motorists who want to pay cash can do so online after going through the toll plaza.
"You don't have to be a member of I-Pass, or you don't have to own an I-Pass. You can certainly still use it if you don't have I-Pass, and ultimately you can pay online or send a payment in within seven days," Lafleur said.
The normal toll rate for passenger vehicles will be $1.50, or 75 cents for I-Pass users. Tolls for trucks will range from $1.50 to $4.00 during daytime hours, with discounts overnight.
The interchange also eventually will include a link from the Tri-State to 147th Street, which she hopes will encourage economic development in nearby Markham, Harvey, Posen, and other economically-depressed far south suburbs.
