Volume 03, 2023

Two Ways To Save on Tolls with One Simple App. Download the Official Illinois Tollway App Today!

A quick, money-saving way for drivers to pay their tolls and avoid any fees or fines now is as close as their smartphone.

 

It’s the Official Illinois Tollway App, which lets drivers use their phones or mobile devices to easily update or manage their I-PASS accounts, including adding or purchasing transponders, adding or changing payment methods and managing rental vehicle or new vehicles.

Read more at Inside the Tollway

Carpenter Shop Zero Injuries

They paint walls, construct offices, lay carpeting and even repair broken door locks at 200 buildings and garages across the Illinois Tollway system.


The 12 carpenters and 4 painters who staff the Tollway’s Carpenter Shop “do it all—whatever needs to be done,” said Chief Facilities Officer Dave Donovan.


What they didn’t do last year was suffer any on-the-job injuries—a notable accomplishment considering the range and complexity of the work they do, as well as the variety of tools they use.

Read more at Inside the Tollway

Leaders in Illinois Transportation Convene at annual THE Conference

Illinois Tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse, Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman (right) and T.H.E. Conference Director Jeff Roesler (left), discuss how transportation infrastructure stimulates economic development and creates jobs in Illinois.

Illinois Tollway Introduces Emerging Technology Program for DBEs to Diversity Advisory Council

Always looking to adopt new technologies available in the transportation industry, the Illinois Tollway is increasingly turning to cutting-edge tools such as 3D modeling, intelligent transportation systems in planning, designing and building roads and bridges. 

 

So, when Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse and new Board Chairman Arnie Rivera met with the Tollway’s Diversity Advisory Council, they embraced the opportunity to seek input on ways to prepare small, diverse and veteran-owned firms to obtain training of new technologies to remain competitive.

Read more at Inside the Tollway

Move Illinois Quarterly Meeting

Consultants, contractors and industry partners turned out to join Illinois Tollway at its first Move Illinois Quarterly meeting of 2023 to learn firsthand about the progress of our ongoing capital program and network with each other to consider new possibilities for working together on upcoming projects. The Tollway thanks all of its partners for their continuing role in helping us safely and successfully deliver our capital program.

Illinois Tollway Staff Encourage High School Students To Pursue Careers in Transportation Industry

Senior Project Manager Rick Hanba loves seeing his work as a civil engineer transform from concept to reality. Community Relations Manager Lauren Platt enjoys using her skills to solve a variety of issues in collaboration with others. Their advice for students at Grant Community High School in Fox Lake? A career at the Illinois Tollway offers many exciting possibilities. 

 

Grant Community High School in Fox Lake invited the Tollway to come talk to students at its annual career fair in March. The fair offered an estimated gathering of approximately 1,000 students the chance to hear from more than 60 representatives of local businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and labor unions to participate in the annual event.

Read more at Inside the Tollway

Foundation Mechanics Rise to New Heights with Help from Illinois Tollway Diversity Programs

When Jennifer Kelecius and a business partner launched Foundation Mechanics in 2011, they mostly did consulting work for another company, then began doing a variety of smaller construction and landscaping projects.


The firm continued with only a handful of employees until 2016 when Kelecius won an Illinois Tollway contract under a small business set-aside program to serve as the prime contractor on a $1.4 million project to make landscaping improvements along a 30-mile stretch of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90).

Read more at Inside the Tollway