Tollway Stories & More—2023 Volume 09

Volume 09, 2023

Illinois Tollway Kicks Off Conversation About The Future

The Illinois Tollway is looking to the future, with service, equity, regional partnerships, innovation, economic development, workforce opportunities, safety and sustainability in mind to guide the way for a new strategic plan. Illinois Tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse and Board Chairman Arnie Rivera kicked off the conversation at The Lincoln Forum this month with Chicago Urban League President and CEO Karen Freeman-Wilson, engaging with nearly 200 wide-ranging thought leaders. It’s just the beginning, so get ready to join the discussion as we move beyond the Move Illinois capital program!

High School Students Get Close-up Look at Illinois Tollway Trade Careers

One of the priorities for the Illinois Tollway is building the pipeline of a qualified and talented workforce, encouraging students to consider future options in the trades and engineering.

The Illinois Tollway hosted about 120 students from area high schools September 26 for a boots-on-the-ground experience at some of our major construction work at the I-490 Tollway Project, and, for the first time, at our roadway maintenance sites in Alsip and Bensenville.

Read more at Inside the Tollway

Illinois Tollway Teams With Industry Partners To Host Digital Construction Contractor Training Workshop

The digital revolution is accelerating in the heavy highway construction industry and the Illinois Tollway is making sure that smaller firms aren’t steamrolled by the changes.

The Illinois Tollway is defining requirements not only for construction, but also setting requirements in design and bid letting to aid in the collection of digital data.

To ensure that no construction firm is left behind, the Tollway joined forces with its contractors, equipment and software manufacturers and labor partners to conduct a Digital Construction Contractor Training Workshop at the Local 150 training center in Wilmington.

Read more at Inside the Tollway

Diversity Chief Terry Miller One Of Crain’s 2023 Notable Leaders In DEI

Diversity means it takes all kinds to succeed.

But it takes a one-of-a-kind leader to ensure that inclusion is the foundation of everything the Illinois Tollway does to achieve that success.

That leader is Terry Miller, who was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one its notable leaders in diversity, equity and inclusion.

As chief of the Tollway Department of Diversity and Strategic Development, Terry is responsible for overseeing a staff administering impactful diversity programs and initiatives that are achieving greater inclusion and access to economic opportunity for small, diverse and veteran-owned firms in construction, professional engineering services and the supply of goods and services.

Read more at Inside the Tollway

Fall K.I.S.S. Events Keeping Kids Safe

Thank you to Lambs Farm in Libertyville and the Tinley Park Police Department for supporting the Illinois Tollway and Illinois State Police Troop 15 by hosting our Kids Identification and Safety Seat (K.I.S.S.) events in September. Working together, we can help parents and caregivers keep their kids safe every trip, every time.

Illinois Tollway Joins Transportation Leaders Looking Ahead To 2024

Thank you to Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association for inviting the Illinois Tollway to participate in its annual State of the Industry meeting featuring major transportation government agencies from throughout the region. We were pleased to join with leaders from Illinois Department of Transportation, McHenry County Division of Transportation Kane County Division of Transportation, Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways, DuPage County Department of Transportation and Chicago Transportation Authority in outlining transportation programs for the coming year.

Choose DuPage Board Hosts Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse

Illinois Tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse met with the Choose DuPage Board of Directors led by President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Bedalov, who also previously served as Tollway executive director.

The group includes about 60 representatives from area companies, organizations, schools and government.

Together, the Illinois Tollway and DuPage County fuel the regional economic engine that delivers goods and services, creates jobs and drives new development and opportunities.

DuPage County is at the heart of the Illinois Tollway system, with direct connections to all but one toll road. And the new I-490 Tollway will soon serve DuPage County, as well, unlocking congestion and creating new access to communities west of O’Hare International Airport.

The I-490 Tollway will extend from the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) to the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and, together with the Illinois Route 390 Tollway, creating much-anticipated western access to O’Hare and connecting businesses and communities with transit facilities, major freight transportation hubs and distributions centers.

Young Engineers Hear Career Advice From Illinois Tollway

The Illinois Asian American Civil Engineers, a new professional industry association promoting diversity and inclusion in the civil engineering, invited the Illinois Tollway to talk to young and emerging engineers about careers in civil engineering.

More than 120 IAACE members gathered at Harry Caray’s Ballroom in Lombard to hear from Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse, Chief of Diversity and Strategic Development Terry Miller and Chief Engineering Officer Manar Nashif.

The informal gathering also was designed to solicit career advice for young engineers from a panel of seasoned Tollway professionals: Deputy Chief of Program Implementation Jeff Allen, Deputy Chief of Program Implementation Sarah Kukadia, Executive Project Manager Laura Thompson and Senior Project Manager Rick Hanba.

The Tollway panelists were asked to detail their career journeys and provide advice to young engineers about how to advance their careers in the transportation industry and to succeed in doing business with the Tollway.

Illinois Tollway Uses Giant Crane To Lift Massive Beams Into Place On I-294 Bridge

It takes skill and specialized equipment to gently lift beams weighing up to 89 tons and measuring up to 145 feet long into place on a bridge the Illinois Tollway is building as part of its $4 billion reconstruction of the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294).

To make the job even more complex, the beams had to be carefully raised into place over Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Metra tracks, while minimizing any interruptions to rail service on the train tracks.

That’s why the Tollway brought in the super-sized Liebherr LR 1500 crawler crane, which has a boom that can stretch more than 500 feet long to safely handle the heavy lifting needed to construct the bridge.

Read more at Inside the Tollway