A Toll That Never Ends

It probably comes as no surprise that the Illinois Tollway Board has gone ahead
with a toll increase.  The increase will take effect January 1st of next year.  I
don’t really have a problem with the tollway concept.  It seems rather straight forward to have riders pay for their own roads.   I don’t, however, think that commuters get the best deal from this type of setup.

Historically, I haven’t spent that much time traveling on the Tollways.  It wasn’t until a few years ago, with a job change, that I started using it daily.  I begrudgingly went ahead and purchased a transponder.  The toll cost was
outrageous without the transponder.  You also had to use the cash lane which slowed down travel time significantly.

The Illinois Tollways are generally well plowed in winter and well maintained all year round.  I should mention though that I’ve also found the non-tollways to be well plowed as well. They are not maintained as much as the tollways but are generally in good shape. 

The one observation I have made about the Illinois Tollway sytem ( Mostly
Interstate 294, which I travel the most ) is that it seems to always be under
construction.  I’m not sure the road needs this much attention.  My conclusion is
that the Illinois Tollway takes in money and then spends it any way it can.  Why conserve? This is good for the road construction contractors.  This can
be a headache for the commuters.

My biggest problem with the system is the limited number of exits.  This is probably due to the toll booths.  You wouldn’t want a driver to be able to exit
before paying a toll.  I suspect this might explain why it has taken nearly half a century to get an interchange at Interstate 294 and Interstate 57.  Interstate 294 is a tollway while Interstate 57 is not.

According to the Illinois Tollway website, the plan approved by the Illinois Tollway Board in August includes a toll rate increase of 35 cents at a typical toll plaza. Cash-paying passenger vehicles will continue to pay double the I-PASS rate.  This means that it costs 72 cents at the Interstate 294/Interstate 55 toll booth.   The cost is $1.44 if you don’t have a transponder.  Not all booths have the same toll cost.  Many are higher.

Illinois does not have the most expensive tollways.  Generally, the east
coast turnpikes cost more per mile.  This still isn’t very comforting when you consider the amount of other taxes that we pay in Illinois. Yes, a toll is a tax.  This
is just like the taxes we pay at the gas stations for fuel.  Fuel taxes are supposed to go for local and regional roads.  If you have a job in the
northern or western suburbs, there is little choice but to take the tollway to
and from Oak Lawn. 

There has been talk over the years about getting rid of the tollway system in Illinois.  Wisconsin doesn’t have a one.  I doubt that I would see this happen in my
lifetime.  It still would be nice to have one Illinois agency dealing with roads instead of two.