Local
1.5-mile I-490 segment in Franklin Park to open to traffic
The first stretch of the planned I-490 tollway is scheduled to open overnight Friday, giving drivers and truckers a 1.5-mile route between I-294 and Franklin Avenue. The $4.3 billion project is intended to connect the northwest suburbs with the Tri-State Tollway while skirting O’Hare and Rosemont.
A 1.5-mile stretch of the planned I-490 tollway in Franklin Park is scheduled to open overnight Friday, with northbound and southbound lanes connecting the I-294 Tollway to Franklin Avenue.
The new segment is the first portion of a larger route planned along the western edge of O’Hare International Airport. When complete, I-490 is expected to link the Jane Addams Tollway near Des Plaines with the Tri-State Tollway in Franklin Park, offering freight operators and suburban commuters a route between the northwest suburbs and the Tri-State without traveling through Rosemont.
The $4.3 billion project began construction in 2018, including widening and modernizing I-294. The next phase will extend north and includes construction of an interchange with the I-390 Tollway, which begins in Hanover Park.
The opening marks a step in a multiyear transportation project intended to change how drivers and freight traffic move around O’Hare. The full connection is not yet complete.