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Former Elgin-O'Hare Expressway Now A Cashless Tollway

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The free ride is over on Illinois Route 390, formerly known as the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, as the state has begun tolling.

Route 390 is now the state's first cashless tollway, with all tolls being collected via I-PASS transponders, or online. The new tollway opened at midnight Tuesday.

"The segment that's opened is Illinois 390, and it's the western portion of it, so it goes from Lake Street on the west to … Route 53 on the east," said Illinois Tollway executive director Greg Bedalov.

The new tollway is part of the Elgin-O'Hare Western Access project, "which is going to eventually go all the way east to O'Hare Airport, and then have an additional ring road around the west side of O'Hare Airport, which is going to connect [Interstate] 294 on the south all the way up to [Interstate] 90 on the north."

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The road does not have any cash toll booths, so drivers without an I-PASS transponder must pay their tolls online within 30 days of using the road.

Tolls total $2.50 for the full 6-mile stretch of Route 390 from Lake Street to Interstate 290. I-PASS users pay half rate.

The eastern stretch of the toll road is set to open next year from I-290 to York Road.

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