Illinois tollway expects high holiday volume
NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT December 19, 2012 6:38PM
Updated: January 21, 2013 3:48PM
The Illinois Tollway expects 15.7 million vehicles will use the system during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays between Friday and Jan. 3.
The heaviest travel is anticipated on Friday, when the tollway expects 1.6 million vehicles to be on the road. On an average day, about 1.4 million vehicles use the tollway.
From 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, travelers can get a complimentary cup of coffee at 7-Eleven located at all tollway oases and the McDonald’s restaurant at the Lake Forest Oasis. Oases locations include:
To accommodate increased holiday travel, tollway officials said they will suspend temporary maintenance and construction lane closures from noon on Friday until 9 a.m. Dec. 26, and from noon Dec. 28, until 9 a.m. Jan. 2.
At the same time, tollway officials said I-PASS will be accepted on the North Carolina Turnpike beginning Jan. 2. Currently, 14 other states allow the use of I-PASS on their systems.
North Carolina joins Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia in accepting I-PASS. Tolls in individual states may be higher than those on the Illinois tollway.
