Illinois State Toll Highway Authority

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The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (often abbreviated ISTHA) is an instrumentality and administrative agency of the State of Illinois. The Tollway is governed by an 11-member board of directors. The Governor of the State of Illinois and the head of the Illinois Department of Transportation serve as ex officio members of the Tollway Board. The remaining 9 members are named by the Governor. No more than 5 appointed members may be of the same political party as the Governor. The Authority has the power to collect and raise tolls, and is responsible for the maintenance and construction of tollway roads and related signage (including electronic message boards, used for driving time notices, Amber Alerts and other notifications). The Tollway also supervises and manages the seven Illinois Tollway oases. The close relationship between the governor and the near-majority of appointed board members has led to numerous allegations of endemic corruption throughout the tollway authority's lifetime.[1]

The roads, as well as the Authority itself, are sometimes referred to as the Illinois Tollway. In reports on the Authority in the press, such as those by the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald, the Authority's full name is used. On some of the Authority's signage, and in letters to the editor, "Illinois Tollway" is used. The Authority's official website uses both.

Contents

[edit] History

The original Toll Highway Authority was established in 1941.[2] After construction of the first toll highways in Illinois was delayed by World War II, the Illinois State Toll Highway Commission was established in 1953. The first toll highways in the Chicago area were planned, constructed simultaneously, and finally opened in 1958 under the authority of this Commission.[3] These first three toll highways are the present day Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90/I-39/US-51), the Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294) and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88, between Hillside and Sugar Grove). The first segment to open was the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway between Devon Avenue and Elgin on August 20, 1958 at 3 p.m.[4] The Toll Highway Act, in its present form, dates from 1967, but has been amended since.[5]

In the 1970s, the East-West Tollway was extended west from Sugar Grove to Dixon, Illinois with a freeway continuing to the Quad Cities. In 2004, ISTHA voted to rename this route the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway.

In June 1984, Republican minority leader of the Illinois House of Representatives James "Pate" Philip helped push through legislation authorizing the construction of the North-South Tollway, then referred to as simply the DuPage Tollway.[6] Officials at the Morton Arboretum, one of the nation's premier woodland research centers, promptly filed a federal lawsuit to block construction of the tollway. They also promised to prevent the tollway authority from obtaining environmental approval from federal officials.[7] Ultimately, the lawsuit was settled, and I-355 was constructed as a tollway between Army Trail Road and Interstate 55 near Bollingbrook.

The Illinois Tollway website officially launched on September 1, 1997.[8]

In 2005, ISTHA made a strategic decision to expand and improve the tollway system instead of converting the roads to freeways. It adopted a $6.3 billion congestion-relief program named "Open Roads for a Faster Future."[9] Under the program, the main toll plazas were rebuilt to have open road tolling, so that drivers with transponders would drive at normal speeds under toll collecting equipment instead of stopping to pay tolls. The toll plazas were relocated to the side of the road to handle vehicles without transponders. The plan also included widening many of the toll roads, and resurfacing the others. Interstate 355 was extended south of I-55 to connect to I-80 in New Lenox, Illinois, a distance of 12.5 miles (20.1 km), in order to serve fast-growing areas of Will County. The project also includes adding an interchange between the Tri-State Tollway and I-57.[10] These improvements were financed by long-term revenue bonds that require the system to remain as toll roads for at least 30 more years.

As of 2009, ISTHA maintains and operates 286 miles of interstate tollways in 12 counties in Northern Illinois.[11]

[edit] Toll roads

Map showing the four ISTHA maintained toll roads (Shown in Red)

ISTHA manages four toll routes in Illinois. Except for the vicinity of O'Hare International Airport, none enter the city of Chicago, by design.

[edit] Toll collection

Main article: I-PASS

Users pay tolls at designated plaza either by driving under a transponder antenna or by driving through a toll gate and paying cash. The cash price is twice the transponder price. Tolls are also collected on entrance and exit ramps that are near the main toll plazas so that the average toll per mile is about 2.6 cents per mile (for passenger vehicles with I-PASS.)[12] Trucks and commercial vehicles pay a higher toll, with a discount for travel during non-peak hours. The current rate structure is projected to generate $850 million in annual revenue by 2012.[13]

The Illinois Tollway is the only toll highways within the United States that accept pennies for toll payment in automatic toll lanes. The reason commonly given for this is that Abraham Lincoln appears on the obverse of the US 1 cent piece, the penny, and Illinois is known as the "Land of Lincoln." Until the mid 1970s, the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway used a ticket system on the segment between Elgin and Beloit to collect tolls based upon the exact milage travelled. Drivers were handed a Hollerith card when they entered the segment and paid a toll when they left.

I-PASS is the Illinois Tollway’s electronic transponder toll collection system that allows drivers to pre-pay their tolls. Every toll lane on the system is equipped to accept I-PASS which can also be used on the Chicago Skyway and anywhere E-ZPass is accepted. (E-ZPass is a transponder consortium of toll road authorities on the East Coast.)

A refundable deposit of $10 and $40 in pre-paid tolls is charged at the time of purchase. Illinois Tollway offers an auto-pay replenishment option by registering a credit or debit card to your I-PASS account at the time of activation. Each month, the minimum balance and replenishment amounts are recalculated based on the average usage during the previous six months.

Users choosing to replenish their account without auto-pay are responsible for monitoring their transactions and balance. There are various options for self-pay replenishment, including the Tollway Service Centers located at five oasis rest stops. Buying $20 I-PASS Gift Cards at Jewel-Osco is the most convenient way for those customers wishing to pay by check or cash.

If a vehicle registered with I-PASS passes through a toll collection without the transponder, the toll amount will be automatically deducted from the respective I-PASS account. This process is called "V-Tolls" (Video Tolls). V-Tolls in excess of 10 per month result in penalties.

In 2004, the Illinois Auditor General criticized the I-Pass system, because the system failed to check whether the transponder used correlated with the class of vehicle detected at a tolling point.[14] The audit reports also found that ISTHA did not send out violation notices for all detected violations and did not properly follow up when drivers did not respond to the notices that were sent.[15]

[edit] Criticism

The ISTHA and the Toll Highway System in Illinois have undergone much criticism since the 1980s. Construction of the North-South Tollway (I-355) was delayed, in part, due to a dispute with the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. Original plans for this toll highway would have seen it constructed through the middle of land belonging to the Arboretum, and closer to the existing Illinois Route 53.

Today I-355 is a major artery serving some of the fastest growing communities in the United States. Opened November 24, 2007, the Tollway completed a 12.5 mile extension of I-355 which links I-55 to I-80, providing access and critical congestion relief to interstate travelers and central Illinois. Construction in the I-355 extension began after years of delays. Construction on other projects has also been delayed, mostly through protests by area residents.

The Tollway Authority located its headquarters at the intersection of Interstates 88 and 355, in Downers Grove, Illinois in a helipad-equipped facility derisively nicknamed by press and politicians as the "Taj Mahal".[16] Visitors to the building are greeted by marble flooring and other niceties. The media reported that every employee had a $700 Herman Miller Aeron desk chairs.

Further criticism in the 80's and 90's has centered on the existence of the ISTHA itself, and its quasi-independent status from even the Illinois General Assembly. Citizens' groups formed in the 1990s to try to force the ISTHA to disband, and convert the toll highways in Illinois into freeways. This stems from the 1953 law that established the then Illinois State Toll Highway Commission.[17] By 1999, then-Governor George Ryan began to publicly discuss the closure of the ISTHA and the abolition of toll collection in Illinois,[18] but the plans were tabled by Ryan's increasing scandals.[19] After Ryan declined to run for re-election and the succeeding Governor Rod Blagojevich had been elected (but had not yet taken office), the ISTHA board publicly suggested a sudden hike in toll rates that the new Governor could simply blame on his outgoing predecessor. The previous adjustment to Illinois toll rates had taken place in 1983.[20] The Authority would have been able to raise rates at that time without approval of the Illinois General Assembly because of its quasi-independent nature. However, a rate hike did not go into effect at that time. Ultimately, the toll rates for I-PASS users remained at 1983 prices while the toll rate for cash payers doubled.

One aspect of the argument is that by having a single toll road system for the state that controls the major communter routes into Chicago and the major circumferential route around the city, commuters and long-haul truckers who use the original system that was built in 1958 are subsidizing the subsequent routes, I-88 to Dixon, Illinois and I-355 in DuPage County, Illinois. As a result, instead of the original routes becoming freeway, the revenues from the original system subsidized less intensively used routes that could not be financed on a stand-alone basis.[21]

Other criticism has involved the use of the I-Pass transponder system. Some of this criticism has come from privacy advocates, who decry the use of tracking transponders.[22][23] Other I-Pass related criticism came in late 2004, when higher tolls were proposed for drivers who do not use the I-Pass system. Tolls were doubled for non-I-Pass users as of 1 January 2005.[24]

Tolls were also raised on that date for drivers of larger vehicles. Under the congestion relief strategy, creating financial incentives for commercial and interstate truckers to use the tollways at non-peak travel times would reduce delays for daily commuters. Tractor-trailer drivers now have to pay increased rates during peak travel times (generally daytime hours during weekdays), but may pay decreased rates during non-peak travel times (though these rates are still an increase over those that were in effect until 1 January 2005). Some truck drivers had threatened court action or boycotts of the toll highway system.[25]

The tollway has significantly decreased the amount of pollution from vehicle exhaust that enters the air as a result of the system-wide Open Road Tolling program. This is because the old barrier style tollbooths adds to the amount of time that certain vehicles spend on the roadway by requiring them to slow down, stop, and sometimes idle for several minutes while waiting to pay their tolls. The introduction of the I-Pass system has greatly alleviated this problem since all vehicles with an I-PASS or E-Zpass can continue to travel at normal highway speeds.

In 2003, during Governor George Ryan's administration, the ISTHA entered into a public-private partnership with Wilton Partners to rennovate the Oasis rest stops in exchange for a 25 year lease. That lease has been the subject of various investigations, including the political connections between food vendors in the Oases with former Governor Blagojevich. Ultimately, Wilton Partners' lender foreclosed on the Oases.[26][27][28]

In January 2009, Governor Blagojevich was impeached, tried, and removed from office for abuse of power, and was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. Following this, the ISTHA Board appointed a new chief executive without consulting Quinn.[28] On August 12, 2009, John Mitola, who was appointed the ISTHA Board Chairman in 2003 by Gov. Blagojevich, resigned for personal reasons. The next day, Governor Quinn appointed a new chairman and two new board members.[28] Ex-Chairman Mitola was reported to have failed to disclose an investment in a real estate development with former state purchasing and contracting CEO Michael Rumman under ousted Gov. Blagojevich.[29]

[edit] Construction projects

Congestion Relief Plan 2005-2012[30]
Project Budget
Tri-State Tollway $2,293,800,000
Jane Addams Memorial Tollway $772,700,000
Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway $1,077,800,000
Veterans Memorial Tollway[31] $823,500,000
Open road tolling $729,300,000
System wide improvements/interchanges $688,900,000
Total $6,386,000,000
Includes $115 million of reimbursed expenses

The congestion relief program involves separate construction projects scheduled each year beginning with 2005. In addition to the I-355 extension project begun in 2005, these projects continue. To speed traffic flow, the 20 main toll plazas were rebuilt to allow vehicles with transponders to drive straight at normal speeds, while new plazas were built to the side for vehicles without transponders.[32] Each year, selected portions of the road got additional lanes and wider lanes and rebuild and restore most of the system. An interchange between I-57 and the Tri-State Tollway is also planned near Harvey, Illinois. 41°37′04″N 87°41′14″W / 41.61778°N 87.687091°W / 41.61778; -87.687091 (interchange site) Construction improvements slated for 2010 in the budget include resurfacing and rehabbing the Edens Expressway Spur, resurfacing on I-355 from I-88 to Army Trail Road and resurfacing the I-90-Kennedy Expressway from the Tri-State to the Elgin Toll Plaza.[33]

The program also included rebuilding the Cherry Valley interchange between I-90 and I-39 on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway. The new $89 million interchange was completed on November 13, 2009.[34]

The multi-year congestion relief program is expected to cost $6.1 billion, down from an original estimate of $6.3 billion.[33]

[edit] Green Lanes

As a follow-on to the congestion relief program, the ISTHA adopted a "Green Lanes" program at its November 20, 2008 meeting. The program would establish special lanes on each tollway that would be reserved for high occupancy vehicles or vehicles willing to pay premium tolls that reflect congestion pricing. The plan is expected to cost $400 million to implement between 2010 and 2015. The extra revenues from the green lane tolls would pay for $1.4 billion in bonds that would not only finance the green lanes but would also fund the I-57 interchange with the Tri-State Tollway and a redesign of the interchange between I-290 and the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway.[35] According to the criminal complaint filed by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, Gov. Blagojevich, prior to announcing the Green Lanes plan, instructed a lobbist to solicit a $500,000 campaign contribution from a Tollway construction contractor.[36] Following Gov. Blagojevich's impeachment, the ISTHA replaced the green lanes program with a $1.8 billion "Congestion Relief Program II."[37]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chicago Tribune Editorial Board (2004-03-24). "Kudos to Tollway Authority on reform steps". Chicago Tribune. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=10185F24F27E1525&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved 2008-01-23. 
  2. ^ "Streets and Highways." Young, D. M. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Accessed December 26, 2005.
  3. ^ "Interactive Regional Highway Atlas: System Facilities." University of Illinois at Chicago Library. Accessed December 26, 2005.
  4. ^ Foust, Hal. "Traffic Rolls on 76 Miles of Tollways". Chicago Tribune. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/569107442.html?dids=569107442:569107442&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+21%2C+1958&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=Traffic+Rolls+on+76+Miles+of+Tollways&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 
  5. ^ "Roads and Bridges." (605 ILCS 10/) Toll Highway Act. ISTHA site.
  6. ^ Chicago Tribune (1985-01-29). ""Sox, DuPage batting stadium idea around"". Chicago Tribune. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FF63074C2D99424&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved 2008-01-11. 
  7. ^ Schmeltzer, John (1985-04-29). "Arboretum accepts plan for tollway". Chicago Tribune. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FF63615A371EF31&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved 2008-01-11. 
  8. ^ "Tollway Launches Official Web Site". Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. 1997-08-28. http://web.archive.org/web/19971012170817/http://megsip2.megsinet.net/cgi-bin/cfml.exe?Template=/tollway/details_new.cfm&releaseno=74. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
  9. ^ "Congestion-Relief Program". http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1399545&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL. Retrieved 2009-11-12. 
  10. ^ http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,2425269&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL#294-57 Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  11. ^ http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1399546&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  12. ^ "General Information". http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1483282&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  13. ^ "How Toll Rates Were Established". http://www.illinoistollway.com/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/TW_CONTENT_REPOSITORY/TW_CR_ROADS_TOLLS/HOW%20THE%20TOLL%20RATES%20WERE%20ESTABLISHED_03%2016%2005.PDF. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  14. ^ "Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Financial Audit and Compliance Examination". July 13, 2005. http://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Compliance-Agency-List/Toll-Hwy-Auth/FY04-Toll_Hwy_Auth-FIN&COMP-digest.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
  15. ^ "Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Financial Audit and Compliance Examination". July 15, 2004. http://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Compliance-Agency-List/Toll-Hwy-Auth/FY03-Toll_Hwy_Auth-FIN&COMP-digest.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
  16. ^ "Gov. Blagojevich's Budget Address — FY 2004." Office of the Governor of Illinois. April 9, 2003.
  17. ^ "Run Like Hell," with text from the 1953 Toll Highway Act. "Cliff's Notes." Accessed December 27, 2005.
  18. ^ Google cached copy of a message to the Environmental Law Policy Center, copying an article from the Daily Herald. Accessed 12 July 2006.
  19. ^ "Putting Customers in the Driver's Seat: The Case for Tolls." The Reason Foundation. Accessed December 27, 2005.
  20. ^ "An Agency Ripe for Reform: The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority." Citizen Advocacy Center. Spring 2002 Newsletter. Accessed December 27, 2005.
  21. ^ "Woods & Wetlands". Illinois Sierra Club Newsletter. Fall 2004. http://illinois.sierraclub.org/w&w/wwnews/WWNewsletter39.html#4. Retrieved 2009-11-14. 
  22. ^ "Looking down the road: Transport informatics and the new landscape of privacy issues" reprinted on the Electronic Frontier Foundation website, originally published in 1995.
  23. ^ Toll Roads News article from 2005.
  24. ^ Article from the Chicago Fed Letter, April 2006
  25. ^ Machalaba, Daniel (April 12, 2005). "Steep Increases Set for Toll Roads". Wall Street Journal Online. http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB111326348040604069-tIa0OaS_tJlDUq4CzRH7SI5hDYA_20050512.html. Retrieved 2009-11-14. 
  26. ^ Pyke, Marni (Nov. 5, 2009). "Tollway gets an earful on oasis contracts at hearing". Daily Hearld. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=334257. Retrieved 2009-11-12. 
  27. ^ Virginia Groark and John Chase (February 13, 2005). "Tollway oasis pact rich with links to governor's allies". Chicago Tribune. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/792422861.html?dids=792422861:792422861&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+13%2C+2005&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&edition=&startpage=1&desc=Tollway+oasis+pact+rich+with+links+to+governor%27s+allies+%3B+Fundraiser%2C+friend+tied+to+restaurants. Retrieved 2009-11-12. 
  28. ^ a b c Joseph Ryan and John Patterson (Aug 15, 2009). Daily Herald. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=313967. Retrieved 2009-11-12. 
  29. ^ Joseph Ryan and Sheila Ahern (Aug. 15, 2009). "Former tollway chairman's undisclosed land deal raises flags". Daily Herald. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=313957. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
  30. ^ http://www.illinoistollway.com/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/TW_CONTENT_REPOSITORY/TW_CR_TRAFFIC_CONST/2007_CRP_COMPLETE_BOOK_09.04.07_FINAL.PDF Retrieved 2009-11-13
  31. ^ Includes $729 million for extending I-355 south from I-55 to I-80 in Will County.
  32. ^ Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. The speeds are the speeds limits most traffic goes faster than them and the transponders still work. Illinois Tollway - Open Roads for a Faster Future. Accessed 27 December 2006.
  33. ^ a b Pyke, Marni (Oct. 30, 2009). "Tollway work in final throes and budget shows the difference". Daily Herald. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=332716. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
  34. ^ http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=54,2491497&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  35. ^ Wronskiaccessdate=2009-11-14, Richard (November 21, 2008). "Green Lanes are a go: Illinois tollway OKs $400 million congestion-relief project". Chicago Tribune. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/nov/21/local/chi-tollway-hotlanes-21-nov21. 
  36. ^ "Excerpts from the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich". Daily Herald. Dec. 9, 2008. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=256837&src=. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
  37. ^ Pyke, Marni (Sept 25, 2009). "'Green lanes' plan withers but other projects sprout up". Daily Herald. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=323972. Retrieved 2009-11-14. 

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 41°48′22″N 88°03′04″W / 41.806111°N 88.051111°W / 41.806111; -88.051111

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