Skip to main content

Illinois smart highway and widening project planned

The US state of Illinois is setting out plans for a US$4 billion project to widen the central Tri-State route. The project is being planned by Illinois Tollway and has received approval from an Illinois Tollway committee. The work would see the route being widened between Chicago’s 95th Street to Balmoral Avenue in Rosemont. The upgraded stretch of highway will feature SmartRoad technology. This will deliver real time traffic data in real time to drivers. The sophisticated technology will also allow Illinoi
April 26, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

The US state of Illinois is setting out plans for a US$4 billion project to widen the central Tri-State route. The project is being planned by Illinois Tollway and has received approval from an Illinois Tollway committee. The work would see the route being widened between Chicago’s 95th Street to Balmoral Avenue in Rosemont. The upgraded stretch of highway will feature SmartRoad technology. This will deliver real time traffic data in real time to drivers. The sophisticated technology will also allow Illinois Tollway to determine how best to manage the system of flex lanes so as to minimise congestion and maximise capacity. This 35km section of the route carries heavy traffic, up to 155,000 vehicles/day, and suffers congestion at peak periods. The work would add an extra lane in either direction, with the flex lanes on the hard shoulders able to be used by buses or emergency vehicles.

Related Content

  • Key route upgrades for Scotland
    July 19, 2012
    Major road projects in Scotland will improve the country’s transport connections. Plans are now in hand to fast-track the project to convert the A9 to dual carriageway status along its entire length. The road is a major transport artery to the north of Scotland, connecting the Central Belt in the south with the northern city of Inverness, providing the main gateway to the north of the country. The plans call for the upgrading of the A9 to dual carriageway status between Perth and Inverness. Work on the 5km
  • Major advances in asphalt paving technology
    February 9, 2012
    Using the latest paving technology has allowed contractors to carry out difficult projects Contractors in Germany and Italy have been able to carry out very difficult asphalt paving applications, using the latest machines from Vögele and Volvo Construction Equipment respectively. In both instances these projects benefited greatly from the use of the latest generation equipment and it is debatable as to whether such high quality results could have been achieved with older machines.
  • India plans upgrading roads to highways
    January 23, 2017
    India’s Madhya Pradesh State is developing plans to upgrade existing roads to highway status. The programme will see up to 2,000km of roads being widened with extra lanes being added as well as new safety measures being installed. The aim of this programme is to boost connectivity in the state, with the plans have been developed by the State Government and now being submitted to India’s Central Government for approval. Funding for the widening and upgrade programme has yet to be announced however. Two of th
  • Virginia highway project awarded to joint venture
    November 7, 2017
    A major highway project in the US state of Vriginia has been awarded to a joint venture team comprising Granite Construction, Parsons Corporation, and Corman Construction. The firms will handle the Interstate 64 (I-64) Southside Widening and High Rise Bridge, Phase 1 design-build contract, which was awarded by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Construction work for the US$410 million joint venture project is scheduled to commence in November 2017 and should be completed in July 2021.