As part of the Program Manager Oversight (PMO) team for the Illinois Tollway Open Road Tolling (ORT), SE3 directly supervised the program to provide “Open Roads for a Faster Future” as the key component of the $5.3 Billion Congestion-Relief Plan.  The ORT program was budgeted at $748 million and required Design Section Engineers (DSE), Construction Managers (CM) and Program Management Oversight (PMO) for converting 20 mainline toll plazas to Open Road Tolling by 2006 (over an 18 month period starting in 2005).  The Program Management of these 20 design and construction projects specifically converted existing barrier-type toll plazas to a barrier-free system, the first in the nation, allowing I-PASS users to pay tolls electronically while traveling at highway speeds on the mainline, reducing congestion and travel times.  Overall, the PMO role necessitated innovative development of Work Breakdown Structures; corresponding Phase Management Procedures / Flow Diagrams; building Team Organization; establishing scope, schedule and budget; multi-level project controls and procedures; managing contract conformance; design coordination; design issues; and project schedules.

Key Project Elements:

  • Created barrier free tolling for the entire Illinois Tollway
  • Overhead walkways replaced tunnels at many plazas
  • Extremely accelerated design and construction schedules
  • Prototype plaza design was developed and implemented
  • Worked with all Tollway Departments to successfully deliver the program

Construction Cost

$748,000,000

Construction Schedule

Completed 2006

Client

Illinois State Toll Highway Authority

An image of a toll road. To the right is a five lane toll booth, with two lanes open. To the left is a structure spanning the highway with cameras for automatic tolling.
An image of an overhead structure spanning one direction of a toll highway. The structure has cameras to allow for automated tolling.