Open Road Tolling Conversion –
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
In the summer of 2005, the Illinois Tollway began
converting mainline toll plazas to Open Road Tolling
(ORT). The conversion from traditional toll plazas to a
barrier-free system, the first total system-wide
conversion program in the nation, allows I-PASS users to
pay tolls electronically while traveling at highway
speeds on the mainline. Vehicles without I-PASS exit
right to pay cash at toll booths without impact to
mainline, free-flow traffic. Separation of I-PASS
traffic from vehicles paying cash dramatically improves
safety at plazas. Each plaza now has as many ORT lanes
as mainline lanes. The schedule for the ORT conversion
was coordinated to keep as many I-PASS lanes open as
possible during construction.
In just 22 months, all 20 plazas were converted to
deliver quicker, easier, and safer travel for Tollway
drivers. ORT is a major component of the Tollway’s $5.3
billion Congestion-Relief Program to reduce travel
times.
Aerial view of US 12
US 12, Sauk City to
Middleton, WI
US 12 is a major east-west principal arterial route
that integrates local traffic into the state and
national highway systems. Since construction in the
1920s, US 12 between Sauk City and Middleton has
served local residents, farmers, tourists, and
commercial interests.
The corridor improvement included the conversion of
18 miles of existing, rural, two-lane facility to a
four-lane, divided, rural expressway between Sauk City
and Middleton, Wisconsin. Strand led the project team of
four design firms.
The design required highway and interchange engineering,
right-of-way plats for acquisition of more than 500
acres from 200 parcels, traffic studies, public
involvement, coordination with local, state and federal
agencies, access controls, utility coordination,
extensive hazardous materials investigations and
materials handling plans, pavement design, detention
basin design, traffic signals and lighting, and complex
construction staging to keep US 12 open to traffic
during construction.
In addition, an off-road bike path
was designed as part of the four-lane expressway
expansion. Strand specifically designed 6 miles
between STH 19 west and CTH K, and provided construction
engineering for this three year construction project.
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