Rosemont gets green light for Balmoral Avenue off-ramp

Construction of the Balmoral Avenue off-ramp on the northbound Tri-State Tollway (I-294) in Rosemont is set to begin this spring after the Illinois Tollway Authority gave the project a green light Thursday.

The Balmoral interchange, built in the early 1990s, now only has an entrance ramp to the southbound Tri-State.

The Tollway board of directors unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with Rosemont, which calls for the village to finance the roughly $25 million project through bonds and build the fully-electronic exit ramp. The village would recoup up to half the project costs from tolls collected at the exit over 25 years.

The agreement, expected to be approved by the Rosemont Village Board in March, is the first of its kind for the Tollway. Construction of the off-ramp is expected to begin by May 1 and completed by year's end.

“This agreement can serve as an alternate model for how the Tollway can address future interchange requests moving forward,” said Illinois Tollway Board Director Maria Saldaña.

The proposed exit toll rate for passenger vehicles with an I-PASS is 80 cents. Cash-paying customers would have to use the existing interchange to the north at I-190 and River Road.

Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens said the long-sought Balmoral off-ramp is key to the development of Rosemont's entertainment and commercial districts.

“Without a doubt, this project will be a catalyst and gives us a new front door to the village,” Stephens said.

Stephens said project drawings are complete and the village will finalize bids and issue debt by April.

Rosemont has begun construction of phase one of The Park at Rosemont entertainment district next to the planned exit. The district, anchored on one end by Muvico, will soon be home to Toby Keith's “I Love This Bar & Grill,” King's Bowling center, and Lansdowne Irish Pub.

The development will house 200,000 square feet of entertainment, dining, and recreational space where the village will host programs year-round, including ice skating, farmers' markets, concerts, fairs, festivals, and exhibition sporting events. It is slated for completion by spring 2012.

Rosemont will be seeking competitive bids for the off-ramp project and the Tollway will approve all contract awards and assign a project manager to oversee construction.

The new northbound Tri-State exit ramp will spur economic development in the region and improve access to O'Hare International Airport, officials said.

Plans to extend Balmoral Avenue westbound — providing a new entrance to the airport and direct access to the international terminal — and build a full interchange with Mannheim Road likely will move forward in 2015.

The off-ramp also will ease congestion and provide an alternative to the River Road/O'Hare exit to the north, used presently by 16.5 million motorists yearly. Officials say the ramp will provide quicker access to Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, the Rosemont Theatre, area hotels and recreational facilities, and a new outlet mall set to begin construction later this year.

“(With) all the things that we have on the drawing board right now, we're talking somewhere in the vicinity of $750 million worth of construction that could be under way in the village of Rosemont in the next 12 months,” Stephens said.