Curveball coming for I-90 drivers at Route 53 — with key ramp closing through June

Eastbound Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) drivers seeking to merge north onto Route 53 in Schaumburg should expect delays and a detour starting Sunday evening.

The tollway is closing the ramp onto northbound Route 53 in order to remove obsolete toll collection infrastructure and replace it with modern equipment.

Access to the ramp will be shut down at 8 p.m. Sunday, with the project expected to take two weeks, depending on weather.

Signs will be posted detouring drivers to southbound Route 53, Higgins Road and back onto northbound Route 53.

Workers will take out the toll plaza canopy and barriers then install new tolling infrastructure, plus pavement, lighting and sign improvements.

Once the project is complete, crews will switch to similar construction on the ramp from eastbound I-90 to southbound Route 53. That upgrade will involve traffic shifts and lane closures.

Drivers are advised to plan for delays or find alternate routes, especially as IDOT is reconstructing and resurfacing Route 53 between Lake-Cook Road and Route 62.

The tollway switched to a permanent all-electronic toll collection system in 2021 during COVID-19. But a number of sites with barriers and canopies that enabled manual payments still remain.

The agency has been gradually removing old infrastructure along the system and opening lanes up to through traffic.

The upgrades will improve traffic flow, especially in congested areas, and save money by reducing repairs, engineers said.

The tollway is coordinating with IDOT, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg transportation planners, as well as police and fire departments on the ramp projects.

Daily construction updates are available at agency.illinoistollway.com/media-center/construction-alerts.