Illinois Tollway Advises Leave Early, be Safe During Busy Holiday Driving Season

Submitted by the Illinois Tollway

It will be a busy weekend on the Illinois Tollway system where 6.5 million motorists are expected to be on the roads for the Fourth of July weekend.

The heaviest travel period will be Wednesday, July 3, when more than 1.6 million motorists will be on the road, according to a release. The tollway recommends leaving early and staying late to avoid traffic delays.

“One way our customers can make their summer road trips more enjoyable is to leave early and stay late to avoid the combination of rush hour commuter traffic and leisure travelers who are headed out of town for the weekend,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur. “This is especially true for leisure travelers who are using the Jane Addams this summer.”

Tollway statistics show that approximately 35 percent of all vehicles traveling westbound on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) toward Wisconsin over the summer months will head out of town during the peak travel period, typically from 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday afternoons. Customers who travel out of town for the weekend this summer can avoid heavier traffic by leaving before noon on Fridays and waiting until after 6 p.m. to return home on Sunday evenings.

Tollway Construction Zones

To accommodate increased Fourth of July holiday travel, the Tollway is restricting construction activity and suspending all temporary construction lane closures over the weekend to better serve customers.

All temporary maintenance and construction lane closures will be suspended from noon on Wednesday, July 3, through 9 a.m. on Monday, July 8. Some work may continue behind barriers to keep work on schedule, but this work will not impact traffic. 

Construction project information is also available in the “Projects By Roadway” section in the Construction/Planning section on the Tollway’s website.

Know before you go

The Tollway offers a variety of ways for drivers to get the latest information on travel and roadway construction to help you plan your trip, including:

Construction/Planning section and Tollway Trip Calculator    

Real-time travel times 

Up-to-the-minute traffic by roadway at www.nbcchicago.com and www.myfoxchicago.com.

Real-time roadway incident information at Tollway Trip 90, Tollway Trip 88, Tollway Trip 355 and Tollway Trip 94/294 on Twitter.  

Daily lane closure information 1-800-TOLL-FYI –