Barrington Road tollway ramp to open Aug. 31

A long-awaited exit ramp connecting the eastbound Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) to Barrington Road in Hoffman Estates is scheduled to open Thursday afternoon.

The Aug. 31 opening of the ramp will bring full access to the $68 million interchange the Illinois Tollway built in partnership with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the village of Hoffman Estates.

Toll collections are scheduled to begin the same day via I-PASS on the new eastbound exit ramp, and I-PASS and automatic coin machines on the existing entrance ramp to eastbound I-90.

Hoffman Estates officials have long sought this improvement, which took the existing partial interchange that provided access only to and from the east and rebuilt it into a full interchange with a signalized intersection to ease traffic on Barrington Road.

Though drivers will have full use of the interchange before the end of the week, crews will complete remaining work along Barrington Road through the fall.

Part of that work involves completion of the new Barrington Road Station to serve bus traffic on I-90 later this year. The Illinois Tollway is building the station in partnership with Pace.

"By working together to deliver new access to and from the tollway and better traffic flow on Barrington Road, this project is a great example of what state and local governments can accomplish by working together to advance transportation projects with regional benefits," tollway Executive Director Greg Bedalov said in a written statement. "We're providing our tollway customers with better service and new options and giving Hoffman Estates the ability to promote economic development along Barrington Road and beyond."

The Barrington Road interchange project was funded in part by the Illinois Tollway's 15-year, $14 billion capital program. It included funding from IDOT and Hoffman Estates consistent with the tollway's policy requiring local communities to pay half the cost of interchange improvements.

Amita Health, which strongly supported the full interchange for the improved access it provides to its nearby St. Alexius Medical Hospital in Hoffman Estates, contributed $1 million toward the village's share of the cost.