New I-90 ramps opening at Meacham, Roselle roads

Dust- and delay-weary drivers on the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) can celebrate a couple of victories this week as the Illinois tollway continues wrapping up a massive rebuilding project.

The agency is expected to open new westbound entrance and exit ramps at Meacham Road and I-90 and a full-access interchange at Roselle Road and I-90 today, officials said Thursday. Previously, access ramps at Roselle were only to and from the east.

The tollway is promising to finish reconstructing and widening I-90 to four lanes in each direction between Elgin and the Tri-State Tollway by the end of 2016. The agency has already widened I-90 to three lanes in each direction from Elgin to Rockford.

The project is being paid for with a toll increase that was instituted in 2012.

As the Jane Addams work winds down, the agency is continuing building Route 390/Elgin-O'Hare Expressway east to the airport.

As part of the Route 390 improvements, tollway board members on Thursday approved an intergovernmental agreement with Cook County, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Elmhurst and Northlake to fix a problem area near the Tri-State (I-294) and I-290 interchange.

The work includes: widening the existing Lake Street (Route 20) bridge over North Avenue (Route 64) in the Elmhurst area, building a connector road from the Lake Street bridge to eastbound North Avenue, building a new southbound I-294 ramp to County Line Road, and rebuilding and realigning County Line Road.

The tollway's share of the project is about $7.6 million.