Rosemont wants Tri-state off-ramp at entertainment district
Rosemont officials believe an off-ramp from the northbound Tri-State Tollway onto Balmoral Avenue is the key to the success of a growing entertainment district.
The village believes in the project so much, they're willing to front the $25 million for the new junction and have the toll authority pay them back for its half of the cost.
“We think it makes sense and gives us a new front door to the village,” said Mayor Bradley Stephens. “We're putting our skin in the game. We've got to stop going to Springfield and demanding all the time.”
The burgeoning entertainment district already features an upscale movie theater, but two themed restaurant/bars are in the works — including one branded by country music star Toby Keith — as well as a boutique bowling alley, village officials said.
The tollway board is slated to vote on the project at its Feb. 24 meeting. Tollway officials said that while Rosemont is uniquely taking the lead on this from both a financial and construction standpoint, the transportation agency has invested nearly $3 million in the project.
Rocco Zucchero, the tollway's deputy chief of engineering for planning, said Rosemont wants to begin construction in April. But first all of the financial details have to be worked out. The two sides haven't agreed on how the tollway will reimburse the village.
A committee of tollway board members is expected to meet in the coming weeks to hash out the unresolved details ahead of the planned February vote.
Zucchero told the board Thursday that the off-ramp will be fitted with I-PASS-only terminals that will charge motorists 80 cents per use. Zucchero told the board the new off-ramp is anticipated to collect $1.5 million a year in revenue for the toll authority.
Stephens doesn't believe motorists will bypass the new exit because it's cheaper a few hundred feet north, where the toll is 40 cents.
“It's a convenience issue,” he said.
Stephens also believes there will be other benefits of the proposed off-ramp. He said it will ease congestion at the nearby River Road exit. It will also provide another access point to O'Hare International Airport when Balmoral is extended west as part of proposed expansion plans.
Zucchero said the new off-ramp will allow tollway maintenance vehicles faster and more regular access along that stretch of the Tri-State between Balmoral and Irving Park Road to the south. Currently, maintenance vehicles take a circuitous route of nearby service roads to access that section of the tollway. And the vehicles can only access the southbound lanes. The new design would provide better access to tollway lanes in both directions.