A stretch of highway that tens of thousands of DuPage and Will County commuters rely on every day is getting a major overhaul, as the Illinois Tollway moves to repair aging pavement and structures along 17.6 miles of the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355).
The project covers the corridor from I-55 near Bolingbrook north to Army Trail Road near Addison, a north-south spine through Chicago's western suburbs that carries an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles daily. The Tollway is seeking contractors for the work, which involves both repaving and structural repairs to bridges and overpasses along the route.
The timing is not surprising to engineers familiar with the corridor. I-355's southern segment opened in 1989, meaning the original pavement is now pushing 35 to 37 years of service, well beyond the 20-to-25-year major rehabilitation cycle typical for high-volume toll roads. Illinois winters compound the problem: repeated freeze-thaw cycles accelerate cracking and deterioration faster than in milder climates, making periodic large-scale rehabilitation a necessity rather than a choice.
The Illinois Tollway funds its capital work through toll revenue and bonds, without drawing on state tax dollars. That financial independence gives the authority flexibility to take on projects like this one, but it also means the commuters who use I-355 are directly paying for it, through tolls that have been in place since a 2012 rate increase tied to the Tollway's broader Move Illinois capital program. That program, a 15-year, $12 billion commitment launched that year, set off a wave of reconstruction work across the toll system, including ongoing major projects on the Jane Addams (I-90) and Tri-State (I-294) tollways. I-355 rehabilitation fits the same pattern of aging 1980s-era infrastructure now coming due.
The public record on this specific project is thin. The Tollway has not released a cost estimate, construction timeline, or detailed breakdown of which structures require the most significant work. Those details typically emerge after a contractor is selected and a construction schedule is finalized.
What is certain is that any multi-year rehabilitation of a corridor this busy will bring construction-season disruption to communities including Bolingbrook, Woodridge, Downers Grove, Lombard, and Addison. Western suburban residents and local officials will be watching closely for lane closure schedules and detour plans once a contract is awarded.
