Fixing Jane Addams will take a toll

Regardless of whether you simply repair, reconstruct and widen, or reconstruct and widen with room for transit, improving the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) won't come cheaply.

And delaying the work adds to the cost too, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority leaders found.

The tollway is reviewing a list of projects from the Illiana Expressway to the Elgin O'Hare Expressway that it might adopt in the future.

On Thursday, engineers talked about options for I-90 that ranged in price from $1.9 billion to $4.6 billion.

The lowest cost is $1.9 billion to completely redo the highway and add a lane in each direction. Holding off until 2017 would raise the price to $2.5 billion.

Doing nothing substantial to the highway actually costs $2 billion for quick fixes and resurfacing until it falls apart, planners said.

The Jane Addams is 50 years old and 80 percent of the road is expected to require major work by 2010. The tollway-controlled portion of the interstate stretches from the Kennedy Expressway to Wisconsin.

"It's near the end of its useful life," deputy chief of engineering for planning Rocco Zucchero said.

"Obviously doing nothing is something we wouldn't even consider," Director Jim Roolf said.

Other more ambitious plans would incorporate transit running along the middle of a widened Jane Addams corridor.

One alternate is to reconstruct and widen I-90 plus create an express bus system that incorporates a car-pool feature between Rosemont and Hoffman Estates. The system would include 10 stations.

Buses would run along dedicated lanes that would also allow vehicles with more than one occupant. To build the project now would cost $3 billion. Of that, the road work would total $1.86 billion while costs for the transit element including stations and infrastructure would comprise the remainder.

A second option incorporates rebuilding and widening along with the region's ambitious STAR line plan to create a new commuter rail system on I-90 and the EJ&E Railway. The I-90 portion would run north-south from O'Hare/Rosemont to Hoffman Estates; the EJ&E section would continue east-west through Naperville to Joliet.

That cost is $4.6 billion including $2.5 billion for road work and $1.1 billion for transit improvements.

Either the express bus or STAR line would require cooperating with regional transit agencies that right now are facing budget constraints.

"Are the other agencies ready to go forward?" asked Director Thomas Canham.

Chairman Paula Wolff said the agency is setting up meetings with transit agencies. In the next few months, the tollway will review all the outstanding projects and costs before taking the next step, she noted.

Director Bill Morris said the financial analysis had to factor in tolls, but added, "I don't think anyone's comfortable with raising tolls."