New Ramps For Elgin O'Hare Western Access Project Opening By Monday
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Officials cut the ribbon Friday on three new ramps connecting Interstate 290 to the new Illinois Route 390, formerly known as the Elgin O'Hare Expressway.
"This is a historic day for the western suburbs of Chicago," Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board chairman Bob Schillerstrom said from high atop a ramp stretching over Illinois Route 390 on Friday.
Schillerstrom told a crowd of state and local leaders, and business executives the Elgin O'Hare Western Access Project was the beginning of good things.
"The opening of these three ramps is a tremendous start," he said.
The new ramps connecting I-290 and Route 390 were set to open to traffic in time for Monday's morning commute.
"Just two years into this project, we are delivering these new ramps that will create direct free-flowing access between Illinois Route 390 and I-290, and eliminate the signalized intersection at Thorndale Avenue," Tollway executive director Greg Bedalov said.
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The western access project is expected to cost nearly $3.5 billion, but officials have said it will be well worth the cost.
DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin, like many, believes the expansion will improve the economy.
"It's a great day for the region, it's a great day for the state of Illinois, and it's a great day for the county of DuPage," he said.
Officials said it also will reduce traffic congestion west of O'Hare.
"When complete, the new 290 interchange at Route 390 is expected to reduce travel times by up to 30 percent," Schillerstrom said.
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said he wants to be sure everyone gets a pat on the back for this project.
"The other thing that's important too is the work done by the workers doing this job. You go on Christmas Eve, you go on weekends, they're out there working, and that's why these jobs come in on time, on budget," he said.
When completed in 2017, the Elgin O'Hare Western Access Project will include 17 new ramps and 15 new bridges. Illinois Route 390 – formerly known as the Elgin O'Hare Expressway, though it never reached either Elgin or O'Hare – will be extended east to the airport, and a new roadway will be built around the western border of O'Hare to connect the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway and the Tri-State Tollway.
