The Eisenhower Expressway may become something else in a few years—a tollway, at least in part—if state transportation planners get their way.

Plans to add a couple of toll lanes to the Stevenson Expressway (Interstate 55) so far are going so well that his staff is considering “a similar concept” to ease congestion on other crowded highways “starting with the Eisenhower” (I-290), said Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn.

In a speech today at a City Club luncheon, Blankenhorn said the idea still is in its initial stages and will not proceed unless “a new revenue” source is found for a needed total reconstruction of the Ike from the Jane Byrne Interchange west to I-294. But with money tight, “We need to find ways to leverage private investment in our transportation system.”

Read the entire story here: Illinois eyes toll lanes for Eisenhower Expressway – Blogs On Politics – Crain’s Chicago Business