INTERSTATE 355

'Interstate 355' (abbreviated 'I-355'), also known as the 'North-South Tollway', is a 20-mile (32 km) interstate highway and tollway located in the western suburbs of Chicago, USA (part of a metropolitan area sometimes known as Chicagoland). It runs from Interstate 55 in Bolingbrook north to Interstate 290 in Itasca. This is a distance of 20.01 miles (32.20 km). Route Log - Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration
Although the interstate is known for being a tollway, the tollway portion actually starts south of Army Trail Road, 2 miles (4 km) south of the northern terminus. Exits to U.S. Route 20 (Lake Street) and Army Trail Road from the north are free, and pre-existed on the freeway portion of old Illinois Route 53.
Construction is currently underway to extend the southern portion of I-355. This new 12.5 mile extension will run from the current southern terminus at I-55 in Bolingbrook to I-80 in New Lenox. The new roadway is scheduled to be opened in November, 2007. I-355 South Extension Illinois State Toll Highway Authority

Contents

Route description

History

Future

Exit list

References

External links

Route description

I-355 is a spur route of Interstate 55. I-55 serves as I-355's southern terminus, in extreme northern Will County. From that point, I-55 runs northeast to downtown Chicago, while I-355 runs due north through the western suburbs of Chicago.
There are two mainline toll barriers on the Interstate; one at Army Trail Road near the northern terminus, and one at Boughton Road near the current southern terminus. After the southern extension is completed in 2007, Interstate 355 will terminate at Interstate 80 in the Joliet area. A third mainline barrier will be located at approximately the midpoint of the southern extension, at 173rd Street. I-355 South Extension Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (PDF).
I-355 currently has six lanes, three in each direction, along its entire length.
In Chicagoland traffic reports, Interstate 290 north of the tollway and Illinois 53 north of Interstate 90 are also considered to be part of the tollway, even though they are freeways. This is because it is easier to refer to the entire north-south length as a continuous route in traffic reports instead of separating the route into its three distinct parts.

History

Interstate 355 was commissioned in 1989 to ease pressure on nearby Illinois 53, and to a lesser extent, to ease pressure on the rapidly-growing Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294). Illinois 53 was at that point the main north-south artery through central DuPage County. It frequently suffered from overcrowding, as it was two lanes (one northbound, one southbound) for most of its length. During construction, the highway had to be built around the ecologically sensitive and low-lying DuPage River valley, as well as the Morton Arboretum.
The road opened at the stroke of midnight on December 24, 1989. As a Christmas "gift" the first two days of operation were completely free. Initially, the road was a four-lane highway from Illinois Route 64 (North Avenue) to Interstate 88 (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) even though it was built wide enough to be six; within the first few years, the two-lane wide shoulders were converted to the third lane in each direction due to overcrowding. The old lines marking the former shoulder can still be seen in the right lane as a result of the Tollway Authority's attempt to grind them away.
As one of the newer tollways in the system, the North-South Tollway has also seen considerable improvements earlier than the other tollways. Around the late 1990s, the North-South Tollway became the first tollway to have dedicated I-PASS lanes installed; only a few years later, it become the first tollway (and second installation behind the lesser-used Edens Spur) to have I-PASS Express Lanes, a form of open road tolling (ORT).
The Tollway Authority's grander vision of ORT was also instituted first on the North-South Tollway in 2005, when the express lanes were widened two lanes to three lanes in each direction. This allowed the number of express lanes to match the number of travel lanes on the tollway, one of the goals of ORT.
In late 2005, construction began on the southern extension of I-355 from Bolingbrook to New Lenox. According to the Tollway, this portion will look similar to the southern portion of current I-355 south of Interstate 88. Prior to construction, local residents protested against the expressway because of reduction in their property values. In addition, some environmentalists protested because of the sensitivity of the Des Plaines River wetlands where construction would take place. Will County officials lobbied for the extension in an attempt to boost economic development in the Joliet-to-Woodridge corridor.
Plans for the southern extension were nearly brought to a halt in 1995 after discovery of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly, an endangered species, near the river wetlands. The project was allowed to continue after construction crews were trained on how to work near the habitat. The crews also agreed to keep carcasses of any dragonfly kills. In addition, separate habitats for the dragonfly were developed near the Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve in Lemont and in two other preserves in Cook and Will counties.^[1]
As of 2007, there are no Illinois Tollway Oases on the North-South Tollway. This is primarily due to widespread access to food and fuel throughout the western suburbs when construction began in the mid 1980s.

Future

Map of the southern extension of the North-South Tollway

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has plans to extend I-355 further south to Interstate 80 and perhaps thereafter to Interstate 57 and via the proposed Illiana Expressway to Interstate 65, relieving congestion on Interstate 80/94. Bidding on an excavation contract passed on November 18, 2004 with construction beginning several days later, and barring any further legal delays the extension to Interstate 80 is to be completed by November 2007. Bridge to southwest around the corner
Six interchanges will be modified or created with the southern extension, located at:

★ Interstate 55

★ 127th Street

★ 143rd Street and Illinois Route 171 (Archer Avenue)

★ 159th Street (Illinois Route 7)

★ U.S. Route 6 (Southwest Highway)

★ Interstate 80
The extension will be 12.5 miles (20 km) long, and feature a 1.5 mile (2 km) long bridge over the Des Plaines River, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Bluff Road, numerous railroads, and the Commonwealth Edison utility corridor.
A ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony will be held on November 11, 2007 when the entire length of I-355 will given the honorary title of Veterans Memorial Tollway. The ceremony will be held near the new interchange at 127th Street in Lemont. In addition to the dedication, the day's activities will include a Charity Walk/Run/Roll and a Charity Bike Ride. http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1401626&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Illinois State Toll Highway Authority

Exit list

''Exits on the North-South Tollway are not numbered.''

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Will	'Interstate 355 from mile 0.0 to mile 13.0 is under construction and will not be open until November 2007.'
	New Lenox	0.0	Interstate 80 — Joliet, Indiana	Future southern terminus of Interstate 355.
		~1.0	U.S. Route 6	Tolls on southbound entrance, northbound exit ramps.
	Lockport	~3.0	'173rd Street Toll Plaza'
		~5.5	Illinois Route 7 — 159th Street	Tolls on southbound exit, northbound entrance ramps.
	Homer Glen	~7.0	Illinois Route 171 — Archer Avenue 143rd Street	Tolls on southbound exit, northbound entrance ramps. Frontage road connects both roads.
	Lemont	~12.0	127th Street	Tolls on southbound exit, northbound entrance ramps.
			Des Plaines River Valley Bridge
	Bolingbrook	12.5	Interstate 55 — St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago	Current southern terminus of Interstate 355. Flyover ramps to both directions of I-55.
		13.0	'Boughton Road Toll Barrier - Plaza #89'
		13.5	Boughton Road	Full interchange; tolls on southbound entrance, northbound exit ramps.
DuPage	Woodridge	15.5	75th Street — ''Darien''	Full interchange; tolls on southbound exit, northbound entrance ramps.
		17.0	63rd Street — ''Downers Grove''	Full interchange; tolls on southbound exit, northbound entrance ramps.
	Lisle, Downers Grove	18.5	Maple Avenue	Full interchange; tolls on southbound exit, northbound entrance ramps.
		19.5	U.S. Route 34 — Ogden Avenue
	Downers Grove	19.5 NB, 23.0 SB	Interstate 88 — Aurora, Chicago	Full interchange. Interstate 88 and Interstate 355 run side-by-side for over two miles at this point.
		23.0	Illinois Route 56 — Butterfield Road	Interchange is part of Interstate 88 collector-distributor ramp southbound, and part of eastbound Interstate 88 entrance ramp northbound. Tolls on southbound entrance, northbound exit ramps.
	Glen Ellyn, Lombard	25.0	Illinois Route 38 — Roosevelt Road	Full interchange. Tolls on southbound entrance, northbound exit ramps.
	Glendale Heights	28.0	Illinois Route 64 — North Avenue	Full interchange. Tolls on southbound entrance, northbound exit ramps.
		28.25	'Army Trail Road Toll Barrier - Plaza #73'
	Bloomingdale, Addison	29.0	Army Trail Road	No access from northbound I-PASS express lanes.
		30.5	U.S. Route 20 — Lake Street	Partial collector-distributor interchange.
	Addison	31.5	Interstate 290 — Rockford, Chicago	Northern terminus of Interstate 355.

References

1. Dragonflies to get new homes Tridgell, Guy

External links

★ Illinois Tollway Highway Authority

★ Interstate Guide to I-355

★ Kurumi's x55 page

★ Illinois Highway Ends: Interstate 355