May 29--Gov. Bruce Rauner cemented control over the Illinois Tollway on Thursday as his four Republican appointees took their seats as board members of an agency that is awash in revenue and on apparent solid financial footing, unlike the state itself.
The new board members also expressed their support, in principle at least, for the extension of Illinois Route 53 north through Lake County, which proponents want built as part of the Tollway system.
The Tollway board also approved more than $118 million in construction and engineering projects. About half of this money will be spent on the widening and extension of the Elgin-O'Hare Western Access Project.
Rauner's appointees include former DuPage County Board Chairman and gubernatorial candidate Robert Schillerstrom; Craig Johnson, the mayor of Elk Grove Village; banker Joseph Gomez, of Northfield; and Nick Sauer, a member of the Lake County Board.
The question of whether the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will formally adopt the long-debated Route 53 extension has not yet come before the agency's board. Lake County officials, however, are eager to pitch the project.
Proponents want the Tollway to build the new highway and pay most of the cost, estimated to be as much as $2.65 billion. Advocates say it would alleviate acute congestion on county roads.
Critics say tolls on the proposed four-lane "parkway" with a maximum speed of 45 mph would be too high to attract motorists.
Schillerstrom, a Naperville attorney, said it is a "worthwhile project to be looking at" because it would reduce congestion and spur economic development.
The problem, he said, is funding. "There are a lot of great projects that haven't taken place because there wasn't enough money," Schillerstrom said.
Northfield banker Gomez said he was all for extending Route 53.
"We're all the victims of traffic jams," Gomez said. "Whatever makes it better for the general population, I think the Tollway should be involved in."
Johnson agreed the Route 53 project would be an asset to the region, but said the Tollway board and Lake County proponents need to "work through the process" of determining how to pay for the project.
Rauner has been noncommittal on the project.
Tollway revenues were higher than anticipated in the first quarter of this year, totaling over $271 million, or 2.5 percent higher than estimates, Finance Director Michael Colsch said.
In welcoming the new board members, Chair Paula Wolff admitted that she herself thought she was "coming to an agency that was really messed up" when she was appointed by former Gov. Pat Quinn in 2009.That turned out to be not the case, Wolff said.
The Tollway, which operates independently of the state, is rated AA- by Fitch Ratings, officials noted.
Both Schillerstrom and Johnson were longtime supporters of the extension of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, which has been taken over by the Tollway and renamed Illinois Route 390.
That project, estimated to cost $3.4 billion, will turn the highway into a tollway and extend it east along Thorndale Avenue to O'Hare's western edge. There it will connect to a new tollway linking the Addams (Interstate 90) and Tri-State (I-294) tollways.
Among the contracts awarded Thursday was one for $59 million for road and bridge construction on Route 390 from Park Boulevard to Arlington Heights Road.
Officials also announced that the new flyover ramp connecting northbound I-290 with westbound Route 390 would be open this summer. The ramp will eliminate the need for this traffic to stop at Thorndale Avenue.
The Tollway next week will start installing three tolling gantries on the portion of Route 390 west of I-290. The gantries will be used for testing only and toll collection will not begin until the summer of 2016, officials said.
rwronski@tribune.com
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