The Illinois Tollway Board of Directors approved three new construction contracts totaling nearly $19.8 million at its May board meeting, according to a May 21 announcement. The contracts are part of the agency’s ongoing capital plans, including the Bridging the Future initiative.
So far in 2026, the board has approved nearly $233.9 million in contracts, with $44.6 million attributed to the fifteenth year of Move Illinois—a 16-year, $15 billion capital program—and $189.3 million allocated for Bridging the Future, a seven-year, $2 billion plan now in its second year. The total planned investment for the agency’s 2026 capital program is set at $1.26 billion.
“Now beginning its second year, our Bridging the Future capital plan is guiding the Tollway as we invest in work that improves mobility, maintains and modernizes infrastructure to ensure we are meeting our customers’ needs,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse. “The contracts approved today focus on preventative maintenance that extends the service life of our bridges and keeps the system in a state of good repair.”
The newly awarded construction contracts include an $8.6 million agreement with K-Five Construction Corp., Westmont, for pavement and structural rehabilitation on Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355) from I-55 to Army Trail Road; a $5.3 million contract with Rausch Infrastructure, Des Plaines, for bridge rehabilitation on Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294) between Deerfield Road and Lake Cook Road as well as Algonquin Road to Sanders Road; and a $5.8 million contract with Lorig Construction Co., Des Plaines, for systemwide structural rehabilitation.
The May awards feature participation by 11 certified disadvantaged-, minority-, and women-owned business enterprise firms and five certified veteran-owned firms; D/M/WBE commitments range from 18.15 percent to 23.03 percent per contract, while veteran participation ranges from 2 percent to 4.39 percent per contract.
Since 2012, more than $12.2 billion has been invested by Illinois Tollway through these programs—over $3.2 billion committed specifically to small, diverse, and veteran-owned businesses—and an estimated total of 152,930 jobs have been created or sustained as of April 2026.
