dago
TUG Member
First, a little history. I don’t enjoy flying, so, unless absolutely necessary, I drive to my destination. I usually study the maps and generally try not to drive thru big cities at rush hour.
Chicago is an exception. It is always rush hour. I found that out quickly. Driving from Ohio. the excessive traffic starts at around the Gary, IN area and continues to about the Joliet, IL area. Now, as long you follow I80, it’s really not a problem, but if you need to go up to Wisconsin, most GPS’s will send you onto the Dan Ryan expressway(I90). YIKES, a giant parking lot. So, in order to avoid that, whenever I need to go up to WI, I try to find an alternate route. Chicago has a bunch of roads that go thru the suburbs.
One time I took I355 to I88 to I39. Seemed like a good alternative. Although traffic was heavy, it moved along quite well. Only having to stop to pay the tolls on I355 and I88.
Now we come to Dec of 2019, when I made a spur of the moment trip to Janesville, WI(near Madison). I decided to try a different alternate route; this time taking I294 to I90 to I39.
Here is where it became costly. I294 and I90 are toll roads. They have toll plaza along the way. A total of 13 on the round trip. The total amount of the tolls comes to $23.30. This seemed like another good alternative, as again even tough the traffic was heavy, it flowed quite smoothly.
While driving I noticed the toll booths, but there were no vehicles parked there, and they didn’t look like there were any attendants at them, so I happily stayed in my lane, and breezed thru right up to the WI border. I was thoroughly confused. I thought they stopped collecting tolls on that road. What I didn’t realize was that I was in an E-Z pass lane. It never crossed my mind.
I found out months later, when I received a “notice of toll violation” from the Illinois Tollway.
I was shocked. So I figured no big deal, pay the tolls and move on. Problem was – for every toll violation they assess a $20 fine. I missed 13 tolls so that meant $260 in fines. I filed a dispute, tried to explain my confusion and offered to pay the tolls and $40 worth of fines. They didn’t buy it. So, a short 2 day trip of about 800 miles turned out to be very costly, and I learned a valuable lesson. Spend a little extra time planning your trip. Had I done more research I would have found that I could have gotten an E-Z pass in Ohio which would have been good in Illinois.
Chicago is an exception. It is always rush hour. I found that out quickly. Driving from Ohio. the excessive traffic starts at around the Gary, IN area and continues to about the Joliet, IL area. Now, as long you follow I80, it’s really not a problem, but if you need to go up to Wisconsin, most GPS’s will send you onto the Dan Ryan expressway(I90). YIKES, a giant parking lot. So, in order to avoid that, whenever I need to go up to WI, I try to find an alternate route. Chicago has a bunch of roads that go thru the suburbs.
One time I took I355 to I88 to I39. Seemed like a good alternative. Although traffic was heavy, it moved along quite well. Only having to stop to pay the tolls on I355 and I88.
Now we come to Dec of 2019, when I made a spur of the moment trip to Janesville, WI(near Madison). I decided to try a different alternate route; this time taking I294 to I90 to I39.
Here is where it became costly. I294 and I90 are toll roads. They have toll plaza along the way. A total of 13 on the round trip. The total amount of the tolls comes to $23.30. This seemed like another good alternative, as again even tough the traffic was heavy, it flowed quite smoothly.
While driving I noticed the toll booths, but there were no vehicles parked there, and they didn’t look like there were any attendants at them, so I happily stayed in my lane, and breezed thru right up to the WI border. I was thoroughly confused. I thought they stopped collecting tolls on that road. What I didn’t realize was that I was in an E-Z pass lane. It never crossed my mind.
I found out months later, when I received a “notice of toll violation” from the Illinois Tollway.
I was shocked. So I figured no big deal, pay the tolls and move on. Problem was – for every toll violation they assess a $20 fine. I missed 13 tolls so that meant $260 in fines. I filed a dispute, tried to explain my confusion and offered to pay the tolls and $40 worth of fines. They didn’t buy it. So, a short 2 day trip of about 800 miles turned out to be very costly, and I learned a valuable lesson. Spend a little extra time planning your trip. Had I done more research I would have found that I could have gotten an E-Z pass in Ohio which would have been good in Illinois.