Illinois Proposes Its Biggest Toll Hike Ever to Fund a $26.5 Billion Road Plan

Illinois drivers who use the state’s tollway system could pay 45 cents more per toll under a proposal now moving through public hearings, the first increase to passenger rates in 14 years and the largest in the tollway’s history. The average toll would climb to $1.24, and commercial vehicles would see a 30 percent jump on top of rates that are already at an all-time high.

What Illinois Drivers Would Pay

The Illinois Tollway board voted on June 18 to open public hearings on the proposed hike, which would add 45 cents to every passenger toll transaction across the system. The typical tollway driver crosses about two toll plazas a day, according to the agency’s own reporting, so the change would add roughly 90 cents to a daily commute and more for longer trips on the Jane Addams Memorial, Reagan Memorial, Veterans Memorial or Tri-State tollways.

Commercial trucking companies would take a bigger hit. Their tolls would rise 30 percent from levels that already sit at record highs, a cost the Illinois Trucking Association says will show up directly in the price of goods hauled through the state.

Legislation authorizing the increase also builds in future hikes. Starting January 1, 2029, tolls would rise on a two-year schedule tied to the Consumer Price Index, capped at 4 percent a year, so drivers would see automatic adjustments without a new public vote each time.

Where the Money Would Go

Tollway officials say the increase would raise close to $1 billion a year, money earmarked for a 15-year, $26.5 billion capital program called Driving Connections. The plan is the agency’s largest construction push in years, funded through a mix of toll revenue and new revenue bonds tied to the higher rates.

More than $6.6 billion of the plan is directed at reducing congestion on the Veterans Memorial Tollway, the stretch of I-355 that links the western and southern suburbs. Another $3.5 billion would go toward the Reagan Memorial Tollway, including a new interchange, and $3 billion is set aside for bridge reconstruction and road work on the North Tri-State Tollway.

A Tollway That Was Supposed to Be Free

The proposed hike lands at an awkward moment for an agency that was originally chartered to stop collecting tolls once its roads were paid off. Illinois drivers have paid more than $27 billion in tolls from 1973 onward, the year the system was expected to become free, and the tollway pulled in more revenue in 2024 than in any year in its history, most of it from commercial traffic.

Watchdog groups including Illinois Policy argue the agency has collected more each year than it needed to operate and maintain the roads, with net revenue peaking in 2024, the same year officials began building the case for a rate increase. Tollway leadership counters that decades of deferred maintenance and growing traffic demand require sustained investment beyond what current rates generate.

How to Make Your Voice Heard

State law requires the tollway board to hold public meetings in every county where the new rates would apply before members can vote. Hearings are scheduled across the agency’s 12-county service area through the summer, and written comments will be accepted until noon on August 3, 2026, to be entered into the public record. Details on hearing locations and how to submit comments are posted on the Illinois Tollway’s Driving Connections page.

The tollway board includes members appointed by Governor J.B. Pritzker, who serves as an ex-officio member along with his appointed secretary of transportation. A vote is expected later this summer after the hearing period closes.

What Happens Next

If the board approves the increase, state law requires the tollway to publicize the change at least 30 days before it takes effect, so drivers would get advance notice rather than a surprise jump at the toll plaza. Anyone with an I-PASS account should watch for tollway communications over the coming weeks: the agency typically emails account holders directly when rates change.

For now, the 45-cent increase remains a proposal rather than a done deal. Drivers who want to weigh in have until early August to attend a hearing or submit written comments before the board takes a final vote.

Sources:

• Illinois Policy: Tollway pushes largest toll tax hike on drivers in Illinois history
• Daily Herald: Toll hike coming? Board OKs hearings on potential 45-cent increase
• Illinois Tollway: Driving Connections capital plan