GRAND AVENUE EXIT RAMP TO REOPEN

Westbound Grand Avenue Bridge Now Open;
Southbound Exit Ramp to Eastbound Grand Avenue Opens Wednesday

The reconstructed exit ramp from the southbound Tri-State Tollway (I-94) to eastbound Grand Avenue will reopen to traffic on schedule and on time on Wednesday afternoon, July 1, as part of the mainline Rebuild & Widen Project between Half Day Road and Grand Avenue. The westbound lanes on the Grand Avenue Bridge over the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) opened to traffic this afternoon; the eastbound lanes are scheduled to open on Wednesday afternoon, July 1
The project to rebuild and lengthen the Grand Avenue Bridge allowed the Tollway to widen I-94 underneath Grand Avenue to provide congestion relief and reduce travel times. The massive rebuilding and widening projects along a nearly 45-mile stretch of the Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294) from O’Hare International Airport to the Wisconsin State line launched in 2007 and are on budget and scheduled for completion this year as part of the Illinois Tollway’s $6.3 billion Congestion-Relief Program – Open Roads for a Faster Future.
All Lanes Open on Grand Avenue Bridge
In addition to reopening the southbound exit ramp, bridge reconstruction work will be complete on Wednesday, July 1, with two lanes open in each direction as well as the additional westbound lane for traffic entering and exiting at I-94 on the newly reconstructed bridge. Reconstruction work began in summer 2008 and one lane in each direction on Grand Avenue was maintained throughout construction to minimize the impact to local traffic.


Know Before You Go
The Tollway offers a variety of ways for drivers to get the latest information on construction and traffic on our roads.
www.illinoistollway.com – Construction Section – for details by road
1-800-TOLL-FYI – daily lane closure info
http://www.gcmtravel.com/ – travel times
Sign up for E-mail updates
Up-to-the-minute traffic by road – http://www.nbcchicago.com/
Construction eNewsletter – www.illinoistollway.com

Part of Tollway’s Congestion-Relief Program
The North Tri-State (I-94/I-294) Rebuild & Widen Project is part of the Tollway’s Congestion-Relief Program, Open Roads for a Faster Future, which will reduce travel times by rebuilding/restoring nearly the entire system, widening/adding lanes to many miles of existing roads, converting 20 mainline toll plazas to barrier-free Open Road Tolling, and extending I-355 south to I-80 in Will County.

About the Illinois Tollway

The Illinois Tollway maintains and operates 286 miles of interstate tollways in 12 counties in Northern Illinois, including the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355), the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-94, I-294, I-80/I-294). Tollway customers save time and money with I-PASS electronic toll collection - Get I-PASS & Get Going!

Libby Collins Show

Listen to Libby Collins tomorrow morning, July 1st, on WKRS 1220am at 7:00am as she meets with Vice-Chair Craig Hathaway of Churchill Photography to talk about your new chamber. Find out how the chamber was formed, upcoming events and how you can participate in this exciting new organization.

Upcoming Event

Our next event will be July 15th, 8am at Gurnee Mills showcourt. Continental breakfast will be provided by Norstates Bank. The Village of Gurnee will be the featured speaker along with Dave Wahl of Veolia, so you won't want to miss this event. Every business in Gurnee, and the surrounding area needs to know what's on the agenda at Village Hall. The topic of discussion will be Commercial Waste Hauling, "How to negotiate with your waste hauling provider."
Get a chance to personally meet the Mayor, and the Village Trustees. Our connection to the Village is one of the things that makes our Chamber unique.

Kickoff Event a Success

The first ever event for the Gurnee Chamber was a huge success. Over 175 businesses attended the kickoff meeting to see what the new chamber has to offer. Mayor Krysti Kovarik and Village Administrator Jim Hayner featured a summary of the partnership between the Village and the Chamber. They made it clear that the Village supports the chamber and will work closely with member businesses on any and all issues they may have. Never before has the Village stood behind a business organization like it does with the Gurnee Chamber.
Also featured as a speaker was Webmaster Tony McFarland of Guidance Development. He outlined the website project and upcoming additions to the newly built website. His web design skills and expertise, assure businesses that they will be prominently displayed on all search engine results. Being the first listing on a Google search page isn't easy to do. What a huge bonus for $125 promotional rate membership. Check it out! www.gurneechamber.com
Check back here and the website frequently for more news and updates.
Look for us on LinkedIn, and Facebook.
The next meeting is July 15th at Key Lime Cove, 8am. The Village of Gurnee will be the headline speaker and will talk about the Commercial Waste Hauling.