Tag Archives: tollway

Emergency Closure on Touhy Avenue

By Jen DeSalvo, WLS-AM 890 Traffic and Transit

(DES PLAINES) A fatal construction accident early Tuesday morning on Touhy Avenue at the Jane Addams Expressway has caused major traffic issues throughout the day.

Traffic back up on the Addams Tollway due to the closed left two lanes at Lee Street.
Traffic back up on the Addams Tollway due to the closed left two lanes at Lee Street.

 

According to the Department of Transportation, Touhy Avenue remains closed in both directions between Wolf Road and Lee Street, in Des Plaines, as a result of the bridge beam collapse at the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway. This closure will continue through Wednesday, April 6th.

A detour is posted that directs traffic on eastbound Touhy Avenue to go north on Wolf Road, east on Oakton Street and south on Mannheim Road to meet back at Higgins Road (Illinois 72). Westbound traffic on Touhy Avenue will take the reverse route.

The two left lanes on the Jane Addams Tollway inbound remain closed at Lee street through the Tuesday evening rush.

© WLS-AM 890 News

Police: Girl, 14, killed in crash on Tri-State Tollway

(LINCOLNSHIRE) A 14-year-old girl was killed and seven other people were injured in a crash Sunday night on the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) near north suburban Lincolnshire, police said.

About 10:15 p.m., a white 2002 Ford Explorer was traveling eastbound on I-94 near the Half Day Road exit when the SUV blew a tire, lost control and struck the right guardrail, according to Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Jim Knipper.

Three of the SUV’s eight occupants, including the 14-year-old, were ejected from the vehicle, Knipper said.

The girl was then struck by a semi truck and was pronounced dead at the scene, Knipper said.

The seven other people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Knipper said. The driver of the semi was not injured.

All eastbound lanes were closed to traffic in the area for more than three hours while state police investigated, but were reopened about 2:15 a.m. Monday. No citations have been issued in connection with the crash, Knipper said.

Jane Addams bridge work to close Mannheim lanes overnight

(ROSEMONT) Bridge construction on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway will cause lane closures Wednesday night on Mannheim Road in northwest suburban Rosemont.

One lane in each direction will be closed after 7 p.m. on Mannheim under Interstate 90 as work begins to rebuild the bridge carrying the interstate over local roads, according to a statement from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Intermittent full closures – which will last no longer than 15 minutes each – will begin after 10 p.m. to allow for the removal of bridge beams, IDOT said. All lanes are expected to reopen by 5 a.m. Thursday ahead of the morning commute.

Similar closures are scheduled to begin on Touhy Avenue in Rosemont and Higgins Road in Des Plaines the week of April 13, according to IDOT. The daily overnight closures will be in effect throughout the week in addition to daytime lane closures from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Illinois Tollway aims to make new I-90 ‘smart corridor’ even smarter

(CHICAGO) The Illinois Tollway wants to join a federal pilot project of new “connected vehicle” technology that eventually could transmit real-time traffic information about congestion, dangers ahead or activity in blind spots directly into a driver’s vehicle, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

On Thursday, the Tollway Board of Directors agreed to apply to join a Federal Highway Administration “Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment” program that could start as early as 2017.

A winning application could net the Tollway $2 million to $20 million to further expand its 16-mile “smart corridor” plans for the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (Interstate 90) that will debut in 2016.

The Tollway already has announced plans to use sensors planted in the roadway and gantries to inform overhead digital signs, posted every half-mile, once the I-90 “smart corridor” opens at the end of next year.

Based on information picked up by those sensors, the digital signs could update advisory speed limits based on traffic flows; alert drivers of congestion or collisions; or indicate lane closures as needed.

The “connected vehicle” pilot project would put that information — and more — in drivers’ cars via their smartphones or technology embedded in their vehicles.

The Tollway hopes to try out “connected technology” on the 10 Pace routes that will be operating on the shoulder of the new I-90, on anywhere from 50 to 100 Tollway vehicles, and on car and truck fleets with more than 10 vehicles registered to a single I-Pass account.

Information gathered from each connected vehicle’s position, as well as its 360-degree awareness of other “connected” vehicles within up to 328 yards, would help provide transportation officials and other such vehicles with live data about roadway conditions, congestion and predicted travel times, Tollway spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said.

Real-time “connected” information could expedite Tollway response time to accidents or problems. Every minute a lane is blocked because of an incident results in at least 4 minutes of additional travel delays, Tollway chief engineer Paul Kovacs told board members Thursday.

Board members watched a video from the U.S. Department of Transportation depicting the possibilities of connected technology.

In the video, cars moving on a highway, but within yellow circles representing a 360-degree radius of protective sensors, were able to identify other vehicles in their blind spots; receive warnings of emergency brake lights up ahead; and be warned against passing.

Such information holds the promise of preventing accidents in the first place by, among other things, helping drivers avoid sudden stops and starts, federal transportation officials contend.

One federal study estimates that 90 percent of all vehicles will be “connected” within the next 15 years, Abrams noted.

Most major manufacturers are looking to outfit cars with connected technology in the near future, including BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, Nissan and Volkswagen, Abrams said.

“By taking a leading role in testing, the Illinois Tollway can be among the first transportation agencies in the nation to bring the safety advances that result from this program to its customers,” Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said in a news release.

Board members also were reminded Thursday that the Tollway is investing $1.63 billion in transportation infrastructure improvements in 2015 — the largest single year of capital spending in the agency’s history.

The work includes delivering three new interchanges, continuing the rebuilding and widening of I-90, and completion of the first segment of Illinois Route 390 as part of the new, all-electronic Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project.

–Sun-Times

© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC