Illinois Tollway Delivering Two New Interchange Projects to Enhance Mobility in the Western Suburbs

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New Tollway access for the Village of Sugar Grove and the City of Marengo will improve regional mobility and support economic development opportunites

The Illinois Tollway is opening two new interchanges in the western suburbs to make traveling easier for commuters and commercial vehicles by providing better access to local communities and other major roadways.

New ramps at Illinois Route 47 and the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) opened today (December 10), creating a full-access interchange in Sugar Grove that will provide another connection in Kane County between I-88 and a well-traveled state highway.

A new full-access interchange linking Illinois Route 23 to the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) in Marengo is scheduled to open on December 23, providing the first direct interstate connection to I-90 in McHenry County.

Creating new transportation links and improving regional mobility will help support economic development and job growth.

“We’re investing in critical interchange improvements that make it easier for our customers to reach their homes and jobs, but also improve connections between our roads and other regional transportation routes, which encourages new economic development,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director José Alvarez. “By working with other transportation agencies and local governments, we’re sharing the costs of these improvements and leveraging the benefits they create across northern Illinois.”

The $25 million Illinois Route 47 Interchange Project adds two new ramps to accommodate traffic traveling to and from the east on I-88. Two existing ramps carrying traffic to and from the west were realigned and the bridge carrying Illinois Route 47 over I-88 was reconstructed as part of the project. The interchange carries about 3,000 vehicles daily.

The $33.4 million Illinois Route 23 Interchange Project is expected to serve about 4,800 vehicles daily. Local road improvements made as part of this project include construction of a roundabout intersection at nearby Illinois Route 23 and Harmony Road that is scheduled to be completed by 2020.

As part of its Interchange and Roadway Cost-Sharing Policy, the Tollway paid at least half the cost of each project, with the Illinois Department of Transportation contributing about 25 percent of the total. The remaining cost of each project is being shared by Sugar Grove and Kane County, and by Marengo and McHenry County.

Drivers, businesses and local communities are eager to start using the new interchanges they helped create.

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