$730 million later, about 30 minutes earlier

And I thought getting to sleep in an extra hour last weekend was cool.

While realizing Monday was a federal holiday and plenty of folks got to stay home, I couldn't help but notice my commute on the new I-355 extension just may help reclaim about an hour of my life each day.

Before going to sleep Sunday night in my home near the southernmost reaches of the Veterans Memorial Tollway, my wife asked me if I was excited about my upcoming morning commute.

I was.

After six months of trudging along Route 53, a trip that often took more than an hour from New Lenox to Lisle, I was excited for a commute where the only red lights I would see would be the brake lights on the car in front of me.

Bulldozers began paving the way for the $730 million expansion, which runs from I-80 in New Lenox north to I-55 in Bolingbrook, three years ago.

Now it was my turn.

Around 8:10 a.m. Monday, I anxiously cruised the four minutes from my garage to the on-ramp and began what would be one of the best commutes in my seven years traveling to Lisle from various Southern suburbs.

To those of us traveling the tollway's 12.5-mile southern branch for the first time, it was obvious something special was going on.

Smiles were exchanged instead of the obscene gestures I'd become used to.

When sharing my travel tale with tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis, she also warned that Monday morning's commute wasn't a typical one because of the federal holiday.

As of 10 a.m., however, McGinnis said traffic had been flowing smoothly since the roadway officially opened late Sunday night.

Illinois State Police Sgt. Jim Jenkner said the morning rush went "very well with nothing unusual on the roadways."

Jenkner didn't know how many tickets were issued, if any. But he reminded motorists to be careful.

"Especially through the holidays, we'll continue with extra enforcement and air speed details along that area," Jenkner said. "We just want to make sure everyone is safe as they get acclimated to driving on the new roadway."

As for my ride, traffic cruised along, with the only slowdown occurring near the northbound 75th Street and Boughton Road ramps.

All in all, my usually hour-and-some-change commute was done in about 40 minutes.

Today's ride will be the real test.

Open tollway

About 54,000 commuters cruised the newly opened 12.5-mile expansion of I-355 for the first time Monday morning. Here's some other numbers you might not be aware of:

6 new interchanges built

748,317 square yards of concrete poured for the roadway

479,366 tons of asphalt used for the roadway

28 bridges built

10.2 million cubic yards of earth moved

270,000 tons of steel used, enough to build 96,000 cars

90,000 gallons of paint used to create pavement markings

Source: Illinois State Toll Highway Authority