Toll express lanes for the Stevenson Expressway would would run from the Dan Ryan out to I-355, according to a plan detailed Thursday by the state.
No word yet on how much the toll would be but the Illinois Department of Transportation says the express lanes would be added to the existing median of the expressway, also known as I-55.
In a request for private developers to bid the project, IDOT said the private-public plan is aimed at "reducing congestion and making travel through the region more efficient."
The stretch between the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-94) and I-355 sees 170,000 vehicles a day, about 15 percent of which is truck traffic, the state said.
The partnership approach has been floated by Gov. Bruce Rauner in which construction costs are picked up by private companies which would then get a piece of the toll take.
"Working together with the private sector, we can learn about best practices for projects like this, potentially saving taxpayers time and money," IDOT secretary Randy Blankenhorn said in a press release.
Motorists could avoid paying tolls but would have to travel in lanes likely to be more congested.
The project's construction cost is pegged at $425 million and the partnership would require approval by the state legislature.
A meeting for the public to learn more about the project is scheduled for Sept. 20 at the Holiday Inn O'Hare, officials said.
The state's expansion of tolls comes as other major American cities make the move to help alleviate expressway congestion. Florida is considering adding tolls to highways near its major cities, and Dallas has already done so on one of its major freeways.
Currently in an effort to cut traffic, the suburban bus service PACE runs four bus routes on the Stevenson using the expressway's shoulders.
