Is The Best Fix for I-80 Making it a Toll Road? I Kind of Think So.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to offer to pay more money if I don’t have to. But that goes to show how bad Interstate 80 is through our area.

The dangers of that stretch of road have been well documented.

NMA Driving News Story of the Day for March 6, 2019
Union billboards now up to warn Illinois drivers of deteriorated I-80 bridge conditions–Would you feel comfortable driving over it after seeing the sign? https://t.co/OFZm8qkZ5z @motorists #InfrastructureWatch #DrivinginAmerica pic.twitter.com/7kZxadE6lE

— NMA (@motorists) March 7, 2019

So now the question is, how do we fix it?

We could rely on the State of Illinois to use $1.8B of it’s $30-ish billion capital bill (which is still only being discussed, nothing final) to fix it in an estimated 10-15 (so probably more like 20) years. Anyone else have some apprehension about that plan? Yeah, me too.

OR

We can make it a toll road. As a frequent driver of I-80, I’d have no problem paying the buck or so per drive to know that this project will be done in seven years, not 15! Secondly, a majority of drivers on I-80 are not local residents, so most of the cost of paying for the road will be on travelers, not us! And anything that gets this project out of the hands of the state is OK in my book. I-80 is already a toll road for a majority of the way from here to the east coast. I see no reason that Illinois shouldn’t follow suit when it’s worked for so many other places. I’ll gladly pay my share to make one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the state safer for me and my family.