Joliet's I-80 Tollway Could Open In 7 Years: RUSH Forum

JOLIET, IL — Six wide lanes carrying east and westbound Interstate 80 traffic and a new bridge over the Des Plaines River can be built in seven years if Illinois can turn the I-80 stretch through Joliet into a tollway. Why a tollway? Because the massive infrastructure project will cost about $1.5 billion to accomplish, according to key politicians and public officials who attended Wednesday night's town hall forum at the Joliet Junior College's Auditorium.

The event was led by WJOL Morning Show Host Scott Slocum, who organized RUSH: Residents United for Safer Highways in October 2017. Nearly 200 people attended Wednesday's event at the college campus off Houbolt Road including New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann and Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk.

Here's the key highlights of the 90-minute meeting:

IDOT: I-80 Bridge Is Safe

John Baczek, District 1 program development engineer with Illinois Department of Transportation, drew a few groans from the crowd when he assured everyone that the I-80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet is completely safe for cars and trucks to use. He also informed everyone that the bridge would be undergoing maintenance inspections in the coming weeks.

"The bridge is in fact safe," Baczek proclaimed more than once. He told everyone there are three basic standards: open, load-posted and closed.

Later in the meeting, a Tinley Park resident addressed her comments to Baczek. She said she couldn't understand how he could call the I-80 bridge over the Des Plaines River safe, pointing out it had a rating of 6 on a scale of 100. "You said it was safe. I don't want to feel safe. I want to be safe," she told him. "That is not a safe bridge."

"The bridge is safe, but the road has safety issues," he responded back.

Walsh Pushes For Tollway

State Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., Democrat-District 86, has introduced HJR50- a bill to authorize the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to include the portion of I-80 between Route 47 and I-294. Walsh said one option is to make a 16-mile stretch of I-80 to Ridge Road into a tollway and the other option is to do a 21-mile stretch, which goes to Route 47 in Morris. He said the tollway would feature three lanes of traffic in each direction. The I-80 stretch through Joliet, as it stands, cannot continue, he said. It features miles of ditches and no off-road shoulders in several areas.

"You're like driving in the country, but you're in an urban area," Walsh told everyone. "I understand it. Nobody wants to pay a toll," however, "we need to have this done now. Our residents need a safe highway to travel on."

Mary Craighead, transportation analyst with the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, provided updated stats regarding traffic and fatalities along the I-80 corridor near Joliet. There are 60,000 to 90,000 vehicles that travel the I-80 stretch of Joliet every day. At least 2o percent of those vehicles are trucks. Interstate 57, in comparison, has less than 10 percent of its interstate used by trucks, she said.

From Minooka's Ridge Road to U.S. 30 in New Lenox: 2017 had five deaths and there were a total of 17 fatal crashes between 2010 and 2017 in that stretch for I-80. Fatal crashes from Route 47 to Interstate 294 had nine fatalities in 2017, three in 2016, two in 2015, none in 2014, two in 2013, one in 2012, seven in 2011 and four in 2010. There were also five in 2018 and three so far in 2019.

Marc Poulos, executive director of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting, is a blunt, tell it like it is kind of speaker. Some of his comments angered the audience members, who were absolutely dead set against having to pay more money for a new I-80 tollway to use. He told the crowd that they don't pay nearly enough in taxes for their roads and bridges.

He said Wednesday night's RUSH forum boils down to one candid question:

"Would you rather have I-80 or not?"

If people in the Joliet area aren't willing to pay more to have a safe and modern transportation system, Poulos explained, "then we should just not have I-80 anymore."

He told everyone they need to realize that the pressing needs of the I-80 infrastructure system is not the only project on the state's radar. Politicians in Decatur, Vernon Hills, Springfield and Rock Island have highway projects that they believe are just as important. "People (there) want the same thing you're wanting and every one of those projects costs money."

The idea of expecting the federal government will step up to the plate and fund a tollway system around Joliet isn't practical in 2019, either. "I'm not holding my breath," he said.

Therefore, the best solution might be to expedite the talk of creating a I-80 tollway.

"It's called self-help," he declared.