Global InformationInterstate 355 information
Interstate 355 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veterans Memorial Tollway | ||||
 I-355 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route of I-55 | ||||
| Maintained by ISTHA and IDOT | ||||
| Length | 32.5 mi[a] (52.3 km) | |||
| Existed | December 24, 1989–present | |||
| History | Extended to I-80 on November 11, 2007 | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  I-80 in New Lenox | |||
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| North end |  I-290 in Itasca | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Illinois | |||
| Counties | Will, Cook, DuPage | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Interstate 355 (I-355), also known as the Veterans Memorial Tollway, is an Interstate Highway and tollway in the western and southwest suburbs of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. Like most other toll roads in the northeastern portion of the state, I-355 is maintained by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA). I-355 runs from I-80 in New Lenox north to I-290 in Itasca,[1] a distance of 32.5 miles (52.3 km).[a] With the exception of a four-mile (6.4 km) expansion in 2009, from U.S. Route 34 (US 34, Ogden Avenue) to 75th Street, the highway is six lanes wide for its entire length.[2]
The tollway authority opened I-355 as the North–South Tollway in 1989 to ease congestion on Illinois Route 53 (IL 53), a parallel two-lane state highway in central DuPage County. Initially, I-355 ran from I-55 north to I-290. The new highway helped cut travel times for commuters traveling north and south in the county. According to commercial real estate developers at the time, the new tollway also opened the western suburbs of Chicago to commercial and industrial development.[3]
On November 11, 2007, the tollway authority opened a southern extension of I-355, which runs 12.5 miles (20.1 km) between I-55 and I-80. The extension was routed through Will County and a small portion of Cook County, which together formed one of Illinois' fastest-growing regions at the time. The tollway authority expected the extension to cut travel times in the region by 20 percent.[4] Upon the extension's opening, the tollway authority changed the name of the tollway to "Veterans Memorial Tollway".
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