The Illinois Department of Transportation’s Fixing the Kennedy Express Lanes project replaced a Reversible Lanes Access Control System or REVLAC system governing an 18-mile stretch of I-90 and I-94 connecting downtown Chicago, O’Hare International Airport, and the northwest suburbs. The old REVLAC system on the Kennedy Express Lanes – which handles 275,000 vehicles daily – had reached the end of its useful life. Based on nearly 40-year-old analog technology, the REVLAC needed to be modernized with new digital equipment.
Prior to the project, switching the gates inbound or outbound required a member of the department’s Emergency Traffic Patrol to be on-site to manage the process manually—a time-consuming and potentially dangerous task. The $170 million project installed 120 new traffic control gates and overhead signs, integrating local and remote controls, replacing multiple cameras, modernizing electrical components as well as adding almost 250,000 feet of cable and terminal blocks.
The improved camera technology also helps Illinois DOT better detect problems with equipment and fix them more quickly. The agency said the work to retrofit the RELVAC system was included in a larger $170 million contract that repaired bridges and rehabilitated pavement along the expressway.
America's Transportation Awards 