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Tri-State Tollway
Length:	78 miles (126 km)
Formed:	Mid to late 1950s
Direction:	North-south
From:	Interstates 80/94/294, Illinois Route 394 in Thornton
To:	Interstate 94, U.S. Route 41 west of Zion
Major cities:	Franklin Park, Des Plaines, Gurnee
System:	Interstate Highway system Illinois Tollway system

The Tri-State Tollway is a U.S. toll road maintained by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority in northeastern Illinois. It is actually a combination of three different Interstates:

• Interstate 80 between Interstate 94 at Thornton and Interstate 294 near Hazel Crest
• Interstate 294, which is routed on top of Interstate 80 to Hazel Crest, and then turns north to Deerfield
• Interstate 94 north from Deerfield to U.S. Route 41

The segment containing Interstate 294 is 53 miles (85 km) long; in total, the Tri-State Tollway is actually about 78 miles (126 km) long. Only the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway is longer in length. Despite its name, the Tri-State Tollway does not enter either Indiana or Wisconsin. On the Indiana side, the Tri-State Tollway ends three miles away from the Indiana border and continues as the Kingery Expressway; however both the Kingery and the Indiana portion, which was later named the Borman Expressway, were known as the Tri-State Highway before the Tollway was completed. On the Wisconsin side, the Tri-State Tollway ends just before the border at U.S. Route 41. The road continues as Interstate 94/U.S. Route 41 to Milwaukee.

Contents 1 Features 1.1 Edens Spur 2 Lingo 3 History 4 Rebuild and widen projects 4.1 South Tri-State Tollway 4.2 Central Tri-State Tollway 4.3 North Tri-State Tollway 5 Exit list 5.1 South Tri-State Tollway 5.2 Central Tri-State Tollway 5.3 Northern Tri-State Tollway 5.4 Edens Spur 6 External links 7 References

• Over-the-road Oases — These oases are a part of the entire tollway system, but the most are on the Tri-State Tollway. They provide food and gas without having to exit the tollway proper.
• Pay-as-you-go tolling — Like all Illinois tollways, rather than getting an entry ticket and paying upon exiting the tollway, drivers pay a flat toll at toll barriers along the main line (typically every 10 miles south of O'Hare). There are also automated toll collection lanes at some exits and entrances.
• Open road tolling — Open road tolling allows the automatic collection of tolls via an I-Pass, without the need to slow down or stop at a toll booth.
• Thornton Quarry — About 0.75 mile (1200 m) of the highway crosses a quarry being converted into a large lake for overflow storm water. (See the Deep Tunnel project.) Currently, the road's elevation over the floor of the quarry is up to 100 feet (30 m) deep on both sides of the highway, making for a unique view.

• No direct interchange with Interstate 57 — Despite the fact that these two highways cross paths and there is room for an interchange to be built, I-57 is the only Chicagoland highway that cannot be directly accessed from the Tri-State Tollway.

• Six Flags Great America — an amusement park in Gurnee, Illinois.

Edens Spur
Length:	4 miles (6 km)
Formed:	Mid 1950s
Direction:	East-west
From:	Interstates 94/294 in Deerfield, IL
To:	Interstate 94, U.S. Route 41 in Glencoe, IL
Major cities:	None
System:	Illinois Tollway system Interstate Highway system

The Edens Spur is a 5 mile (8 km) cutover from the Tri-State Tollway to the Edens Expressway. It connects the Interstate 94 portions of the tollway and the Edens Expressway. It is technically a toll road.

Northbound traffic on the Edens Expressway has the option of cutting over to the northbound Tri-State Tollway, or remaining on U.S. Highway 41 (Skokie Highway). Southbound traffic on the Tri-State Tollway has the option of cutting over to the southbound Edens Expressway, or remaining on the Tri-State Tollway on the loop Interstate 294. There are no other ways to enter the Edens Spur at the ends.

There is one exit eastbound on the Edens Spur at Illinois Route 43 (Waukegan Road). There is also an entrance ramp to the Edens Spur westbound at that point.

The spur has one toll barrier, as it is still part of the Illinois toll highway system. This toll plaza has been upgraded and now has (I-Pass) open tolling lanes, which have eliminated most congestion at this toll.

Portions of the Tri-State Tollway are referred to in somewhat archaic language during traffic reports and casual conversation. The following are the most common, from south to north:

• Thornton Quarry — on I-80/294 just west of Halsted Street, the bridge over the aforementioned Thornton Quarry.
• Mile-Long Bridge — on I-294 between I-55 and La Grange Road, the bridge over the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the Des Plaines River, a large portion of the UPS transmodal facility, a few rail lines, and some Commonwealth Edison power lines.
• Grand Avenue Curve — The curve immediately south of the Bensenville Bridge (see below). This portion of the tollway functions as a long S-curve, causing delays due to limited visibility beyond both curves.
• Bensenville Bridge — on I-294 just south of O'Hare, the bridge over the Metra Milwaukee District West line and Mannheim Road (U.S. 12/45).
• The Water Tower — on I-294, a water tower by Willow Road.

The Tri-State Tollway was built in the mid- to late 1950s as a bypass of Chicago, as the Indiana Toll Road-Chicago Skyway (opened in 1956) ran towards downtown. The first section opened August 28, 1958, running from Wisconsin south to and east along the Edens Spur. The rest of the road, from the Edens Spur south to the Calumet Expressway and Kingery Expressway, opened December 23 of the same year. It was at first marked as U.S. Highway 41 Toll, which continued east on the Kingery Expressway (now I-80/I-94) to Calumet Avenue (US 41) in Hammond, Indiana, and ended at the north end of the Tollway, where it merges with US 41. It was also marked as U.S. Highway 30 Toll between its south end (the Calumet Expressway was U.S. Highway 30 Alternate) and the East-West Tollway. In 1959 the Tollway was designated as parts of I-94 and I-294, and the short concurrency with I-80 was assigned.

In 1998, the authority removed the entire multilane Deerfield Toll Plaza on the Tri-State, then considered one of the worst snags on the tollway system. To make up for the lost tolls, the Tollway Authority built the Huehl Road Toll Plaza on the Edens Spur to charge traffic that followed Interstate 94 into Chicago. In addition, tolls at the Waukegan Toll Plaza were increased, and additional toll plazas built on exits south of Deerfield at Lake-Cook Road, Willow Road and Golf Road (Illinois Route 58). Toll collection facilities were also added to entrance ramps to the northbound Tri-State at those points.

This article or section contains information about planned or expected future infrastructure. It may contain speculative information and may change upon or during construction.

By the year 2010, numerous portions of the Tri-State Tollway are scheduled to have been rebuilt and/or widened under the authority of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Various portions of the tollway are scheduled for completion throughout 2007-2009, with several already being completed. Plans for the Tri-State Tollway include three major projects: South Tri-State Tollway Rebuild & Widen, Central Tri-State Tollway Rebuild & Widen, and North Tri-State Tollway Rebuild & Widen.

In early 2005, road work began to rebuild and widen a 17.6 mile stretch of the Tri-State Tollway from Illinois Route 394 in South Holland to 95th St. in Oak Lawn.

The project is divided into two phases. Phase I includes the portion from Route 394 to 167th Street and was completed in late 2006. Phase II includes 159th Street to 95th Street and began in 2007. ^[1]

In early 2007, construction began to rebuild and widen a 4.5 mile portion of I-294 from Balmoral Ave. to Dempster St., north of which construction will continue as part of the North Tri-State Tollway plan. Once completed, this project will widen the tollway to four lanes in each direction. ^[2]

Work on the northbound lanes is scheduled through mid-2008, and work on the southbound lanes will is scheduled to begin in late spring 2008. The project is scheduled to be completed by late 2009.^[2]

In early 2007, road work began to rebuild and widen parts of the tollway from Dempster St. to the Illinois/Wisconsin state line. The plan calls for the rebuilding and widening of I-294 from Dempster St. to Lake-Cook Road, the rebuilding and widening of I-94 from Half Day Rd. to Grand Ave., and the rebuilding of I-94 from Grand Ave. to near the state line. Noisewalls or sightscreens will also be added at various points along the toll road. ^[3]

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority numbers toll plazas, including plazas on exit ramps. Exits are not marked on overhead signs as of 2006. In the exit number column, below, only the exits indicated as exits of or have exit numbers on the signs.

Interstate	County	Location	Mile	Exit #†	Destinations	Notes
I-80/294	Cook	South Holland	0	160A-B	I-80 East, I-94 (Bishop Ford Freeway, Kingery Expressway) — Chicago, Indiana IL 394 South — Danville	Southern terminus of I-294 and Tri-State Tollway. Westbound I-80 joins I-294 northbound. Eastbound I-80 continues concurrent with I-94 eastbound to Indiana on the Kingery Expressway.
			Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis
		East Hazel Crest	3	47	IL 1 - Halsted Street
			4		Dixie Highway	Southbound exit, northbound entrance.
		Hazel Crest	5	43-45	I-80 West - Iowa	Marked as "To I-57 South - Memphis". Eastbound I-80 joins with I-294 southbound at this point; westbound I-80 leaves I-294.
I-294				41	163rd Street Toll Plaza
		Markham	6	40	US 6 - 159th Street	Cloverleaf interchange. Tolls on southbound exit, northbound entrance ramps.
			8		I-57	Crossing. No access.
		Cal-Sag Channel
		Alsip	12		127th Street	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
			12		IL 50/83 - Cicero Avenue/127th Street	Southbound exit, northbound entrance. Southbound ramp has dedicated ramp to southbound Cicero Avenue; access to northbound Cicero Avenue is via 127th Street, which is IL 83 at this point. Southbound Illinois 50 ramp also leads to southbound IL 83, which overlaps Illinois 50 at corner of Cicero/127th Street.
		Hickory Hills	18	38	US 12/20 - 95th Street/76th Avenue	Southbound exit to 95th Street/76th Avenue; northbound exit to 95th Street only. Access to IL 43 - Harlem Avenue, and IL 7 - Southwest Highway via this exit.
				39	83rd Street Toll Plaza	Northbound only.
				36	82nd Street Toll Plaza	Southbound only.
		Justice	21		IL 171 - Archer Avenue	Southbound entrance only (no exits). Signed access from US 12/20/45 - LaGrange Road via Archer interchange.
		Mile-Long Bridge over Des Plaines River, Ship and Sanitary Canal, and UPS intermodal transport facility
		Hodgkins	22	34	75th Street/Willow Springs Road	Access to UPS facility.
		Indian Head Park	23-24	37	I-55 (Stevenson Expressway) - Chicago, St. Louis, Missouri / Wolf Road	Southbound exit, northbound entrance to collector-distributor ramp; northbound exit direct to I-55. No southbound access to Wolf Road, which is accessed via I-55 southbound ramp. Access to US 12/20/45 - LaGrange Road via I-55 northbound.

^† Numbers without shields refer to the toll plaza number.

Interstate	County	Location	Mile	Exit #†	Destinations	Notes
	Cook	Hinsdale			Hinsdale Oasis	Also the entrance ramp from I-55 to northbound I-294.
		Western Springs	28		US 34 - Ogden Avenue	Full cloverleaf interchange. Brookfield Zoo
		Hillside	29		I-88 West (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) - Aurora	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
			30		Cermak Road/22nd Street	Southbound exit, northbound entrance
			30	35	Cermak Road Toll Plaza
			31		IL 38 - Roosevelt Road	Northbound exit, southbound entrance
			31		I-88 West (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) - Aurora	Southbound exit, northbound entrance
			32		I-290 East (Eisenhower Expressway) - Chicago
		Berkeley	32-34		I-290 West (Eisenhower Expressway Extension) - Rockford	Also marked as "To IL 64 (North Avenue), US 20 (Lake Street).
		Franklin Park			O'Hare Oasis
			39		IL 19 - Irving Park Road	Southbound exit, northbound entrance.
				33	Irving Park Toll Plaza	Southbound only.
		Rosemont	40	32	I-190 West - O'Hare / River Road	River Road on northbound POV signs only. Southbound entrance from Balmoral Ave., providing access from River Road and Mannheim Road northbound, without the need to enter from those roads.
			41	31	I-90 (Kennedy Expressway, Northwest Tollway) - Chicago/Rockford

^† Numbers without shields refer to the toll plaza number.

Interstate	County	Location	Mile	Exit #†	Destinations	Notes
	Cook	Park Ridge		29	Touhy Avenue Toll Plaza	Northbound only.
			42		Touhy Avenue	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
		Des Plaines	44		US 14 - Dempster Street	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
			45	28	IL 58 - Golf Road	Southbound exit, northbound entrance.
		Glenview	49	27	Willow Road	Tolls on southbound exit and northbound entrance ramps. Northbrook, Prospect Heights, Wheeling
		Northbrook	53	24	I-94 East (Edens Expressway), I-294 South - Chicago, Indiana	Northern terminus of I-294. Tri-State Tollway follows I-94 northbound and I-294 southbound. I-94 southbound becomes the Edens Spur of the Tri-State Tollway; see below for exit list. Southbound exit, northbound entrance.
		Deerfield	54	26	Lake-Cook Road	Northbound entrance marked for I-94, southbound for I-294. Northbound exit is before the merge from the Edens Spur, and thus is on I-294.[4] No access to or from the Edens Spur. Riverwoods, Buffalo Grove, Ravinia Festival, Chicago Botanic Garden
	Lake
			55		Deerfield Road	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
		Lincolnshire	56	23	IL 22 - Half Day Road	Bannockburn, Highwood
		Lake Forest	59	22	IL 60 - Town Line Road	Vernon Hills
					Lake Forest Oasis
		Libertyville	62		IL 176 - Rockland Road	Northbound exit, southbound entrance. Lake Bluff
		North Chicago	64	20	IL 137 - Buckley Road	Great Lakes Naval Training Center
		Gurnee	67		IL 120 - Belvidere Road	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
			68		IL 21 - Milwaukee Avenue	Southbound exit, northbound entrance
			70		IL 132 - Grand Avenue	Main exit for Six Flags Great America.
		Wadsworth		21	Waukegan Toll Plaza
		North of Wadsworth, west of Zion	76		IL 173 - Rosecrans Road	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
			78	1B	US 41 South - Waukegan	Southbound exit, northbound entrance. Northbound US 41 overlaps I-94 at this point; southbound US 41 continues toward Waukegan, and to the junction with the Edens Spur (below) on the Edens Expressway. Northern terminus of Tri-State Tollway.
			78	1	Russell Road	Signed as exit 1A southbound.

^† Numbers without shields refer to the toll plaza number.

Interstate	County	Location	Mile	Exit #†	Destinations	Notes
	Cook	Northbrook		24	Huehl Road Toll Plaza
			50.5		IL 43 - Waukegan Road	Westbound entrance, eastbound exit. Mileposts count back from I-94/I-294 junction.
					I-94 East, US 41 South (Skokie Highway, Edens Expressway) — Chicago	Eastbound I-94 merges and overlaps southbound US 41. Westbound I-94 splits from northbound US 41 at this point. One thru lane traveling eastbound; two exit lanes traveling westbound.

^† Numbers without shields refer to the toll plaza number.

• Illinois Tollway official site
  • System Map
  • Entrance and Exit Information
• Historic, Current & Average Travel Times For The Tristate Tollway

• Illinois Highways Page - Illinois Tollways
• Dennis McClendon, Re: (CHICAGOTRANSIT) Expressway openings

edit Toll highways in Illinois
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
Highways
Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-39/I-90) | Tri-State Tollway (I-80/I-94/I-294) Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) | Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355)
Miscellaneous
I-Pass | Illinois Tollway oasis

edit Expressways in Chicagoland
	Stevenson Expressway		Interstate 57		Interstate 65
	Kingery Expressway | Borman Expressway		Tri-State Tollway		Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway
	Jane Addams Memorial Tollway | Chicago Skyway | Indiana Toll Road		Dan Ryan Expressway		Interstate 190 | Kennedy Expressway
	Edens Spur | Edens Expressway | Bishop Ford Freeway		Eisenhower Expressway		Veterans Memorial Tollway
	Elgin Bypass		Lake Shore Drive | Skokie Highway		Illinois Route 53
	Kingery Highway		Amstutz Expressway		Illinois Route 394
	Elgin-O'Hare Expressway		Cline Avenue
Proposed Expressways
	Crosstown Expressway		Illiana Expressway		Prairie Parkway
	O'Hare Ring Road