Nov 11, 2007 5:17 pm US/Central
Veterans Memorial Tollway Opens In Western Suburbs
CBS 2's Rafael Romo and Joanie Lum contributed to this report.
LEMONT, Ill. (CBS) ―
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The Veterans Memorial Tollway, Interstate 355, connects I-55 to I-80. The 12.5 mile extension of I-55 officially opened Sunday.
CBS
The morning commute will get quite an upgrade for people living in the western suburbs. The new I-355 extention, dubbed the Veterans Memorial Tollway officially opened Sunday, and links I-55 to I-80.
They erected tents and a big stage on the I-355 tollway, invited thousands of people, including veterans from all wars – and made a big festival out of the opening festivities.
The I-355 South Extension was open to 10,000 bicyclists, runners, skateboarders and toddlers – all enjoying the open road. People were allowed to bike or run along the extension on Sunday -- just for the day, however, because on Monday cars will be flying along the interstate.
The dozens of cyclists who helped open the new extension on Sunday were delighted to be among the first to ride along the new stretch of tollway.
"There's a lot of people in New Lenox, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Homer, that are always taking side streets to get north to get to Schaumburg or the western suburbs. Having this is going to alleviate a lot of that pressure," said one man who rode on the Veterans Memorial Tollway Sunday with his family.
The 12.5-mile extension of the I-355 Tollway connects I-55 through Will County to I-80. It was built as part of the Tollway's congestion relief program to reduce travel time between the southwestern and western suburbs.
Cyclist Teresa Dorey said, "It's really neat to be able to ride on it for the first time and we're very excited about … being able to get places a lot quicker and having it be more accessible and hope that business comes down this way."
The Veterans Memorial Tollway took three years to complete at a cost of $730 million. Officials said they expect about 54,000 daily commuters.
The tollway offers options to residents throughout Will County and the surrounding areas."You've really had a lot of congestion on the arterial roads throughout these local communities -- Homer Glen, Lockport, Lemont and now you have direct access for the first time," said Brian McPartlin, executive director of the Illinois Tollway Authority.
Larry Nechles commutes to Chicago all the way from Pontiac, Mich."There's always a bottleneck between Route 30 and Weber Road that could be 25-30 minutes and this can knock 15-20 minutes off the commute," Nechles said.
The official opening ceremony was held Sunday afternoon, and hosted by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Tollway officials and Blagojevich cut the ribbon on the first new Illinois highway in 20 years.
"We have the Eisenhower and Kennedy, but this is named for the ordinary GI," said Tammy Duckworth, director of Veterans' Affairs."Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy I-355 and spend less time in traffic, but in the final analysis again, we can enjoy these things because we live in a safe country," Blagojevich said.
The extension opens a month early and on budget. It will be open to cars after midnight Sunday, just in time for commuters.
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