Could Pace buses be part of revamped central Tri-State?
The central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) could be the next local highway to feature Pace express buses, planners said Thursday.
Pace and the Illinois tollway are finalizing an agreement allowing buses to use shoulder lanes on the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) in heavy traffic.
It's part of a massive I-90 modernization project that will include more bus routes and three park-n-rides at Route 25, Barrington and Randall Roads, officials said at a tollway meeting.
Pace successfully introduced shoulder-riding buses on the Stevenson Expressway (I-55), and the effort to integrate transit with highways could extend to the central Tri-State Tollway between Rosemont and Oak Lawn.
Tollway engineers are working on designs to rebuild and fix chronic congestion on that section of I-294, which handles about 360,000 vehicle trips a day and more than 24,000 truck trips.
A modernization of the central Tri-State should include public transit, tollway Chairman Bob Schillerstrom said.
"Bus on shoulder (service) is one of the things we're considering," Schillerstrom said. "We're confident it will work well on I-90."
"That's part of our plan ... to have this kind of bus service on all the expressways and tollways," Pace Executive Director T.J. Ross said.
Another ongoing project is bus service on the Edens Expressway, Ross said.
Pace planners noted that the park-n-ride at Randall Road has opened while facilities at Route 25 and Barrington Road will be completed this fall.