Illinois Toll Roads

 

When my family and I were traveling recently we feared we may have gone through a toll area without paying in Illinois. So, I made a telephone call a day or two later. I waited at least 10 minutes until talking to a real, live person. I explained my predicament, specifically that we weren't sure, but we may have passed an area without paying a toll. Finally, after going round and round, the representative told me to not worry about it, that if we only missed one or two that the toll authority wouldn't do anything! Can anybody confirm this?

It May Vary by Location

I can't speak for the toll collection authority in Illinois but here in the Northeast, Ezpass issues fines for every violation. First time offenders get no break whatsoever.

You can appeal the fine if there are valid reasons for the offense like safety, construction, lane markings and signage, etc.

Missed Illinois Toll ?

Hey Jim1348,

Has it been more than 7 days since you traveled through Ilinois?

If I were you, I would use this link and trace your route through Illinois that you took. From here you can see if you missed a toll or not and if you did what the payment would be.

Just right click to select you starting point and right click again to select your ending point.

https://www.illinoisvirtualtollway.com/

If it's within the 7 days you can pay on-line. After 7 days pay by mail.

I would not just let this slide and take the advice of the person on the phone. Remember the State of Illinois is cash strapped and I don't know what extent they would go to try and recover even just a .40 cent toll but the website does say this:

Missed the 7-day Grace Period?

The unpaid toll has now become a violation.
Upon your third violation within a 24-month period, a violation notice may be issued and fines assessed for all three unpaid tolls.
To the extent allowable by the laws of your state, failure to pay tolls or satisfy any fine or penalty imposed by the Tollway may result in suspending the driving privileges, vehicle registration or both of the person failing to satisfy the fines or penalties and other sanctions as provided by law.

Here is the link to PAY ON LINE or PAY BY MAIL.

http://www.illinoistollway.com/tolls-and-i-pass/unpaid-tolls

Just curious

Thankfully I now live a long ways from the Illinois tollways although I did have over 20 years of travelling once or twice a year from Cincinnati to Milwaukee and I always dreaded the decision about which route to take through or around Chicago, both for tolls and time-of-day traffic delays.

Since it's been a while since I've experienced an Illinois toll road, I'm curious. How does one end up in a situation where you're unsure if you failed to pay a toll? But then, my experience was always with paying cash and making sure I had lots of change whenever approaching Chicago.

Illinois toll roads

recently northbound thru Rockford, ILL I accidently got in wrong lane for the toll booth, easy to do in a motor home. Took an hour on the phone to pay about $5.00.

Easy to miss a toll in Chicago without I-Pass

CraigW wrote:

Thankfully I'm curious. How does one end up in a situation where you're unsure if you failed to pay a toll?

It's very easy to do especially in the Chicago area.

With the I-Pass system and open road toll, there are some toll plazas that are very confusing because they actually appear at first to be an "exit" ramp off of the interstate.

Toll Plaza 51 Westbound is very confusing for someone who is unfamiliar with the area. There is open road toll on 88 but the divider to the right doesn't allow you to get to the "manual lanes" where 294 merges into 88. If you should happen to miss the lighted sign about a half a mile back on 88, you'll find yourself on the open road lane with absolutely no way to pay manually. Where the sign is at, it will look as if your going to exit 88 and end up god only know where.

hate tool roads

Many states have converted to toll-roads - Oklahoma has many, and the Ft Worth - Dallas area is plagued by them to name a few. I have my GPS set to avoid toll-roads and when I go on a trip, I try to plan ahead to make routes to avoid them.

EZPass in the northeast is not compatible with the EZTag in Texas. So many toll roads and authorities, it is becoming a barrier to interstate travel, in my humble opinion.

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___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t

I've encountered the same

I've encountered the same frustration, but I've been guided to use the illinois tollway website to pre-pay in advance, if I'd like. Otherwise the tollway will send mail to the vehicle's registered address with a fine, and probably a late fee since it will be beyond 7 days.