The Illinois Toll Highway Authority has announced the permanent closure of manual pay lanes on Illinois’ tollways, leaving constituents with no option but to use IPASS.
The announcement was made two and a half weeks after State Sens. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) and Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) wrote a letter addressed to Toll Highway Authority Executive Director Jose Alvarez and Gov. Pritzker seeking clarification on several points regarding manual toll booths.
"As we continue to see declining COVID-19 positivity rates across Illinois, our offices are hearing from constituents who are concerned that manual toll lanes remain closed within Illinois' tollway systems. These constituents are people who do not wish to purchase an IPASS for a variety of reasons," read part of the letter.
Neither Alvarez nor Pritzker responded to the letter.
"Our letter never received the courtesy of a response,” said Wilcox, as reported on his website. “Constituents have been contacting my office asking why the manual lanes remained closed, and have said a few dollars in tolls can balloon to significantly more with fines and fees.”
No press release could be found but Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times broke the news.
“Most of the questions asked in our letter remain unanswered,” added Wilcox according to the website. “Illinoisans deserve to know how the Toll Authority will remedy problems within the pay-as-you-go system of toll collection so drivers don’t continue to rack up fines. The Toll Authority also needs to announce whether they will offer a fine forgiveness opportunity for those who accumulated fines because the online system would not accept payment.”
The Tollway has plans to expand its I-Pass Assist program to lower-income households in May of 2021 according to the news coverage. Drivers whose household income is below 250 percent of the federal poverty guidelines will have the deposit on transponders waived and receive $20 in free tolls while those who don’t use I-Pass and E-ZPass will be allowed to pay up to 14 days after using the Tollway.
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