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Get ready for new segment of Route 390 that stretches to Route 83

You can drive from Lake Street in Hanover Park to Route 83 in Bensenville along a newly extended Route 390, but it's at a premium price.

The newly completed tollway segment between I-290 in Itasca and Route 83 brings Route 390's length to 11 miles.

The tollway, formerly known as the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, features four toll interchanges and three mainline collection points with tolls costing 20 cents to 25 cents per mile compared to an average of 6 cents per mile elsewhere on the tollway system.

The addition is expected to ease congestion and change suburban commuting patterns.

"Now folks can use this to get to Route 83 instead of getting off Route 390 and onto local side streets," tollway Executive Director Greg Bedalov said Wednesday. Engineers estimate a 25 percent reduction in travel time.

On Saturday, the tollway will host a family festival on the unopened toll road with a 5K fun run/walk that begins at 9:30 a.m. plus trick-or-treating, food trucks, marching bands, games and other activities. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and the event runs until 1 p.m. Parking is on the eastbound lanes of the new tollway segment and can be reached from the Wood Dale Road ramp from eastbound Thorndale Avenue.

The newly completed segment has interchanges at Park Boulevard, Arlington Heights Road/Prospect Avenue/Ketter Drive, Wood Dale Road and Route 83.

Mainline gantries will collect electronic tolls of 25 cents near Arlington Heights Road, 20 cents west of Wood Dale Road, 20 cents west of Route 83 and 20 cents at the Ketter Drive ramp.

The Elgin-O'Hare Expressway was once a freeway, but when the tollway adopted the project, it instituted tolls.

When Route 390 will actually reach O'Hare is partially up to two railroads. The tollway is still negotiating with the Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific railroads over access to railway property it needs to complete the project, which includes a future ring road, I-490, on the western side of O'Hare International Airport.

"We're very confident we can reach an agreement with the railroads," Bedalov said.

It's possible construction of the final leg of Route 390 to be built along Thorndale Avenue could start in 2018, but it's more likely to occur in 2019.

"The next big thing is design work for I-490," chief engineer Paul Kovacs said.

That means a deviation from the feverish pace of construction on Route 390.

"In the last few years we've been going like gangbusters," Kovacs said.

The entire project will cost $3.4 billion and is expected to be finished by 2025.

For more about Saturday's event, go to illinoistollway.com/390event.

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