The Illinois Tollway Board of Directors on Thursday, Nov. 20, approved a plan to raise tolls on trucks by 60 percent. The toll increase for trucks will be phased in over 2015-2017. Beginning in 2018, tolls for trucks will be tied to the Consumer Price Index.
The approval for the toll increase for trucks comes four years after the Tollway increased truck tolls by as much as 300 percent, according to the Mid-West Truckers Association. Meanwhile, an increase for tolls on automobiles was not proposed by the Tollway. The last time the Tollway increased tolls on cars was in 1983, MTA says. MTA opposed the Tollway’s plan to place a toll increase entirely on the trucking industry and then raise truck tolls every year at the rate of CPI.
Other components to the Tollway’s plan include a new I-294/I-57 interchange and upgrading the I-290/State Route 53 interchange. In addition, the Tollway plans to convert existing highway lanes into “Green” lanes that would be accessible to carpoolers and “environmentally friendly vehicles.” However, the Tollway does not know yet how this plan would work or how much they will charge for use of the “Green” lanes, MTA says.
