Welcome to the I-55 Managed Lane Project Public-Private Partnership Public Hearing hosted by the Illinois Department of Transportation. We will share our vision for the I- 55 corridor and discuss the delivery of the I-55 Managed Lane Project. 1
Through this presentation we will share IDOT’s plan to reduce congestion and improve travel time reliability along the I-55 corridor using the managed lane concept. This includes an overview of the corridor, examples of successful managed lanes projects in other states, a look at the selected alternative, and our proposed approach to delivering this project as a public- private partnership (or “P3”) and the Project’s near -term goals. Finally, we will provide you with options to share your opinions. 2
The I-55 highway is a critical corridor in the Chicago metropolitan area. It connects three counties, Will, DuPage, and suburban Cook counties to downtown Chicago, providing a critical transportation network to 16 communities. The I-55 Project extends 25 miles from I-355 in the southwestern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area to I-90/94 (the Dan Ryan Expressway) in Chicago. As a crucial component of the area’s highway system, this segment of I -55 includes major system interchanges with I-355, I-294, and I-90/94. This segment serves key regional and national economic generators such as the Chicago Central Business District, Midway Airport, and a major UPS distribution facility. It also serves other major industrial centers up and down the corridor, including Chicago’s regional ports. Our ports are the nation’s largest inland ports and key commercial intermodal centers that are critical to the movement of goods in and out of the Midwest. 3
The goal is to create fluid and reliable travel in this corridor to support economic activity and mobility in the Chicago area. Unfortunately, this has not been the experience of regular travelers along the corridor. With current traffic flows of approximately 140,000 to 180,000 vehicles per day on average, congestion is observed at an average of 10 hours per day. Engineering studies on this segment forecast traffic flows further increasing in the decades ahead, which will increase congestion. In order to give travelers a transit option, Pace Bus provides Bus on Shoulder Service throughout the 25 miles of the corridor. 4
IDOT completed preliminary engineering and environmental studies for the corridor according to federal guidelines to identify a preferred solution to limit congestion. The best option to alleviate congestion in the area is to add managed lanes within the existing I-55 median. Managed lanes provide an alternative to building new highways that are costly and improve congestion with less environmental impact. Managed lanes are essentially an expressway within an expressway designed to improve traffic flow with less environmental impact. 5
Managed lanes have been successfully implemented to address congestion throughout the world and in the US since the mid-1990s. The goal of managed lanes is to keep traffic free-flowing, guaranteeing reliable trip times for motorists who choose to use them and improving traffic in the adjacent lanes. By using active traffic management strategies to control the number of vehicles in a given lane, managed lanes will allow users to have more reliable and efficient trips on the I-55 highway. IDOT believes that now is the time to introduce this approach to manage congestion in Illinois due to increasing travel delays and growth along the I-55 corridor. 6
The selected alternative for the Project provides users new mobility options and other corridor improvements. The Project includes constructing new, tolled managed lanes within the existing I-55 median that motorists will share with Pace Buses. This approach will also include dynamic pricing congestion management that allows tolls to increase and decrease based on levels on congestion. The three general purpose lanes in each direction will remain as free non- tolled lanes. Anticipated construction work for the selected alternative would include pavement and structure widening, bridge reconstruction, drainage improvements and noise walls. 7 7
Tolling is intended to be a key element of the Project. The new lanes would be dedicated managed lanes available to all passenger vehicles in exchange for payment of a toll regardless of the number of passengers. The Project’s tolling system will be compatible with the Tollway’s transponders to facilitate user convenience and an integrated regional approach to tolling. IDOT believes that the I-55 Managed Lane Project empowers travelers with more options. Users may continue to use three general purpose lanes of I-55 for free or choose to ride in new, tolled lanes, which will be managed to provide a more reliable travel time. Even if you choose not to use the managed lanes, the additional lanes provide new capacity to the system overall and will reduce congestion for the entire corridor. 8
IDOT is considering using a Public- Private Partnership, or “P3” to deliver the Project. 9
A P3 is a contractual arrangement between a public agency, such as IDOT, and a private partner to jointly share in the responsibility of delivering a facility for the use and benefit of the public. This model utilizes private sector expertise, resources, and funding to address the needs of the public. 10
P3s have been used across the country to deliver large and complex infrastructure projects. They offer a mechanism for governments to shift cost and risk to a private party and put in place incentives for greater performance and strict penalties for non- performance. Managed lanes P3s have allowed projects in other states to be delivered quicker and more effectively. Using this innovative structure, IDOT would partner with a private entity that would design, build, finance, operate, and/or maintain the I-55 Managed Lane Project, subject to specific and rigorous performance requirements. 11
This approach to delivering public projects can provide many performance and financial benefits to the traveling public and the state, including: • On-time and on-budget project delivery – P3s promote schedule certainty through aggregated procurement, risk transfer and payment structures. Further, the lump-sum, fixed-price nature of P3 contracts ensures that the private developer assumes risk of cost increases. • Technical Innovation – P3s typically result in technical innovations that can improve users’ experience and result in cost savings. Performance standards for long-term operations and maintenance offer incentives for better design and construction • Private Sector Efficiencies - Streamlined management of the Project by IDOT with a single developer entity responsible for delivery of all major Project elements promote improved efficiencies in service delivery and project management • Investment of Private Capital – IDOT anticipates that the private developer will provide up-front financing to deliver the Project by leveraging anticipated toll revenues, so IDOT will not have to borrow money to deliver the project 12
Managed lanes, together with public-private partnership structures, have become a beneficial and reliable tool to alleviating congestion nationwide including projects in VA, TX, NC, and CO. In fact, the US-36 project in Colorado is very similar to the I-55 project in Illinois. Starting in 2003, a US-36 study was initiated to identify the best approach to mitigate heavy congestion and replace aging infrastructure in the corridor. This study determined that the preferred alternative to address congestion was to introduce new express lanes for transit and tolled passenger vehicles within the US-36 corridor in addition to other roadway improvements. This project was successfully built as a P3 and provides motorists with improved reliability and travel time. 13
US 36 opened in 2016, decades sooner than it could have if not constructed using the P3 model. Today, it’s fully operational with non -tolled lanes, tolled express lanes and transit busses. Under the 50-year agreement between the Colorado Department of Transportation and the selected private partner, a majority of the risk for the construction and maintenance of the Project is held by the private partner. As such, the private partner collects tolls, maintains the toll lanes, maintains the general purpose lanes and performs various other roles to increase customer service and ensure that the roadway is operating according to the Department’s requirements. 14
The anticipated P3 structure for the I-55 Managed Lane Project would shift major design, construction, financing, operations and/or maintenance responsibilities to a private partner for a term of approximately 50 years. Furthermore, the roadway will be maintained by requirements set by IDOT. The selected private partner is expected to retain part of the tolling revenue, subject to adherence to strict maintenance standards, to keep a high level of performance along the corridor. The private partner will use those revenues to repay construction and operating costs of the Project. If excess revenue is collected, the private partner may share toll revenue with the state. The selected private partner will also be incentivized to explore innovative technical solutions to achieve Project goals. Prospective private partners have shown strong interest in the Project, responding to IDOT’s market outreach efforts and its recent Request for Information. 15
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