On the Tollway

If you haven't driven through Illinois, you've missed out.

In the grand and historic tradition of "pay as you go," the state uses private owners of portions of highway that get their investment back via tolls paid by the vehicles using the road.

Money is due based on the number of axles on the vehicle.  At this first tollbooth southbound from Wisconsin in to Illinois, it's $1.90 for passenger cars.

Just wonder a little bit about that... why $1.90?

I think $2.00 makes more sense and less complicated and less inconvenient than getting all the dimes back in change.  Perhaps there is a formula of some sort that arrive at the amount due.  Another flaw, it seems to this traveler, is that until you get to the ramp for the booth - they don't let you know what the toll is.

Let me know sooner, please!  A passenger may have to dig under the seat cushions to find the requisite change.

You travel the entire stretch of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway from Rockton to Rosemont for $7.90.  That's cash money.  If you have an I-pass; there is a discount and you don't have to slow down as the transmitter in your car clicks through a system that bills your account as you fly past.

So far I'm not driving the tollways of Illinois often enough to choose one of the high-tech toll paying money machines.

If that changes, I may have to look into it.

The current system has booth operators at all booths on the main highway.

That's a nice step up from the automatic booths with a basket and you were required to toss all your coins in the basket and wait for the coin counter to determine if the gate would go up to let you pass.

Drop a coin?  See one get stuck in the basket?  You were out of luck and either paid or more or hoped the gate was stuck in the up position.

Several years back, I missed the toll because I mistakenly went through an I-Pass lane when I could not safely get into a lane with a booth.  I pulled to the side of the road, walked back to the booth with my .75 cents.

They asked me to mail it instead.

Another component of tollway travel are the oases.  Since, if you exit the tollway and re-enter there is an additional toll - the builders have installed places to refuel, take a bathroom break, and find food and beverage and a little relaxation along the route that don't require an additional toll.


As a kid, I loved walking over the Interstate watching the cars go by with an ice cream cone in hand.

Even now, it's a good place to grab a burger or snack and back on the road.

The concept of tolls makes some sense of getting the user to pay for the roads, but here in Wisconsin we mainly want a toll road of our own for one reason - to get those Illinois drivers to stop and pay the fare while they're here.

Happy driving!