Longmeadow Parkway Bridge closer to becoming toll-free

Kane County has received an additional $12.5 million in state funding to support eliminating a toll on drivers using the Longmeadow Parkway Bridge over the Fox River when it opens next year, county officials announced.

The funding, included in the capital bill for the state's fiscal year 2024 budget, is in addition to the $17.5 million in state money the county received in fiscal year 2023.

"We are grateful to our state legislators, under the leadership of House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate Leader Don Harmon, for recognizing the importance of this regional corridor and the financial burden a toll will put on motorists and trucking industry," County Board Chair Corinne Pierog said in an announcement of the funding.

Pierog specifically thanked state representatives Suzanne Ness of Crystal Lake and Anna Moeller of Elgin and state senators Cristina Castro of Elgin, Linda Holmes of Aurora and Don DeWitte of St. Charles for their work to deliver the money.

"They were instrumental in driving home the significance of this issue, and passing a funding measure that protects the embodiment of what the Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor means to the future of Kane County and surrounding region," she said.

The county said it needs $35 million in all to eliminate a toll. The remaining $5 million is expected to come from a partnership between Kane, McHenry and Cook counties.

Kane will assume all future maintenance costs that were scheduled to be funded by the toll.

The 5.6-mile Longmeadow Parkway Corridor passes through parts of Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills, as well as unincorporated Kane County. It is expected to relieve congestion on routes 62 and 72, and the Main Street Bridge in Carpentersville.