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Tollway To Hold Final Hearings On Planned Toll Hike

MONTGOMERY, Ill. (CBS) -- The Illinois Tollway is set to hold the final public hearings on a proposed toll hike to pay for road construction projects.

As CBS 2's David Morrison reports, a hearing is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Montgomery Village Hall, at 200 N. River St. in the Kane County town of Montgomery.

The 15-year expansion plan would be paid for partially by tollway users – 35 cents more for I-Pass customers, and 70 cents for cash payers.

Last week at a standing-room only hearing in Lake County, the prospect of jobs and relief from congestion appeared to outweigh concerns about the toll hike.

Some were concerned over the hefty increases, but a majority of the speakers – well-represented by engineers and union building trades – favored the huge tollway plan.

All the hearings are webcast live on the Illinois Toll Highway Authority Web site, and the agency is soliciting comments online as well.

Revenue from the toll hike would pay for a number of new projects: reconstruction of the Jane Addams Tollway, reconstruction I-90 from O'Hare International Airport to Rockford for the first time in 50 years, construction of a south suburban interchange between I-294 and I-57 and construction of an additional leg of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway that still connects neither Elgin nor O'Hare.
In addition to the Tuesday evening hearing in Montgomery, other upcoming hearings on the tollway plan are set for:

Wednesday, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Cook County - Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Ct., Schaumburg

Wednesday, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Lake County - Buffalo Grove Village Hall, 50 Raupp Blvd., Buffalo Grove
Kane County – Montgomery Village Hall, 200 N. River Rd., Montgomery

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