I-490 toll road project advances with $178M construction contract

Completion of the game-changing I-490 corridor is in sight with Illinois tollway officials approving a significant contract recently for the north leg of the project.

The new toll road will wrap around the west side of O’Hare International Airport, connecting with the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) to the north near Des Plaines, an extended Route 390 in the middle, and I-294 to the south in Franklin Park.

“Today's action marks another important step in delivering the new I-490 Tollway and the long-term mobility benefits it will provide for northern Illinois,” tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse said in a statement.

“Projects like the I-490 Tollway require years of planning and coordination, but each milestone moves us closer to improving regional connectivity and delivering infrastructure that will serve this region for generations,” she added.

Glendale Heights-based Dunnet Bay Construction Co. will be paid nearly $178 million to build mainline and four bridges between Bensenville and I-90.

This bridges will span the Union Pacific tracks and a rail yard, Chief Engineer Manar Nashif said at a July 15 meeting.

Construction for the project is complicated, and requires extensive third-party coordination, he noted. Along with freight railroads, other stakeholders include the Chicago Department of Aviation, Federal Aviation Administration, Cook County, local municipalities and utility providers.

“This speaks not only to the complexity of the I-490 project but really to its importance to the region,” Nashif said.

Route 390 (formerly the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway) is being extended east where it will flow into a massive interchange creating a western entrance to O’Hare when it’s completed in 2027.

The western entrance won’t be accessible to the public when it opens, however. The Chicago Department of Aviation is planning a parking lot for airport employees initially, and has said additional amenities would be based on market demand.