The Illinois Tollway continues to roll out its active traffic management tech with the activation of its latest SmartRoad on the northern section of the 22-mile Central Tri-State Tollway (1-294).
The newly activated stretch of SmartRoad sits between Wolf Road and Balmoral Avenue on the Central Tri-State Tollway and functions through 14 high-tech gantries. Work on rolling out these gantries began in March.
Once completed, the full I-294 SmartRoad corridor will function through 80 gantries placed every half mile between 95th Street and Balmoral Avenue. This system will provide the following to Illinois drivers:
- Real-time, lane-specific information on message boards detailing traffic incidents, lane closure notifications and more
- Improved travel time information through upgraded traffic sensors, which will also be installed on ramps to monitor for potential backups
- Inside lane and shoulder flex lanes, enabling the tollway to shift traffic around incidents and reduce backups
Other tollway upgrades meant to support the SmartRoad include new high-definition roadway cameras and upgraded weather stations.
The Illinois Tollway’s first SmartRoad tech was activated in 2017 on a portion of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90).
Along with this latest SmartRoad activation, the Illinois Tollway says its work on the northern section of I-294 between Balmoral Avenue and North Avenue – which began in June 2018 – is scheduled to be completed this year and includes widening the mainline roadway from four to five lanes. All this work falls under the $4 billion Central Tri-State Tollway Project.
More than 220,000 vehicles use the Central Tri-State Tollway daily, the agency says.
