Tri-State roadwork is preventative maintenance

A Lindenhurst resident asked in a recent letter to the editor why the Illinois Tollway is doing roadwork on the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) so soon after much of the roadway was recently rebuilt and widened.

The fact is that the Illinois Tollway you drive on may look good, but sometimes maintenance is needed most in the areas you can’t see.

Roadway resurfacing and rehabilitation projects are investments that allow the Tollway to maintain its roadways in a state of good repair over many years and continue to provide motorists with a smooth driving surface. A combination of age, weather, use and heavy truck traffic take a toll and repairs to the original concrete roadways and resurfacing allow the Illinois Tollway to extend the life of roads without completely reconstructing the entire roadway.

Diligent maintenance work has enabled the Tollway to double the service life of its roadways. Through various pavement preservation techniques, the Tollway can get up to 60 years of use from roadways before complete reconstruction is necessary. This is accomplished by performing relatively lower-cost preventive maintenance on roadways in a consistent, effective and timely manner — anticipating potential pavement problems before they can occur.

For example, while pavement between Lake Cook Road and Half Day Road may look good, the section is due for maintenance to provide a new, smooth surface — which, in turn, helps improve the fuel economy of customers’ vehicles — and extend the life of the roadway. It was last reconstructed in 1998 and was not part of the rebuild and widen projects completed in 2009.

To minimize the impact of construction to our customers, the Tollway will keep as many lanes open during peak hours as were available before construction. We anticipate that all pavement rehabilitation work on the Tri-State Tollway this year will be completed by the end of the year.

Kristi Lafleur

Illinois Tollway Executive Director