Road Tripping thru Illinois and Tolls

FW and I are road-tripping from Cloquet to the Smoky Mountains to hike for Memorial Day week. We’ll be headed down to Madison, and then south on I-90 and I-39 to Bloomington, and then across I-74 to Indianapolis.
Can any of our Illinois brethren tell me what section of that will involve tolls, and what the options are for paying them? I am looking at the States toll map and it looks like just Beloit to Rockford is toll road?? Can’t get their interactive map to work, so just hoping to have and idea of what to expect.
And if anyone has any “must-see/must-do/must-eat at” for the Gatlinburg area, I’ll take those too.

We usually head out west to one of the National Parks for our hiking fixes (did Sedona, AZ the first week of November and the Red Rocks were awesome) but decided to change things up and head south. I’ve driven thru the area, but never spent any time down there.
Thanks for any help!

Cant help on the specific tolls, but check into a “Tex Tag” or whatever those toll roads might accept. Then get an account and add some funds to it. You can then drive right through without stopping.
We drive to Houston to visit family and its good on all the toll roads we encounter along the way. So nice not having to stop!

You are correct, just the stretch from Beloit to around Rockford needs to be paid. Probably the least painful way is to establish a pay by plate account. https://www.illinoistollway.com/paybyplate

HRG

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Get an IPass this is an account you prepay. They will send your something to put on your dash and you can drive straight through. Or just drive straight through and log what terminals you went through and pay at the end of your trip.

or, you could jump off I-90 at exit 3, and side-road it for a bit, re-joining just before you head to I-39. Google Map it, and select avoid tolls.

HRG

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I have an EZ pass that works in many states (including IL and MN). I’m not sure if the various versions (I-Pass, MNPass, SunPass, etc) only work in their respective states, or if they are just rebranded units that work with all the EZ pass systems. Seems silly that they even have state specific ones.

The toll is less if you have a pass, but you need to charge the account with a certain amount which might not be worth it if you don’t travel toll roads much. IMO it is worth paying to not have to stop.

I always filled a baggie with quarters, nickels and dimes to go through there.
Been a while so I dont recall how many toll booths there are but I would take a lot of change for both directions. I got pretty good at tossing the change without stopping.

suzuki wrote:

I always filled a baggie with quarters, nickels and dimes to go through there.
Been a while so I dont recall how many toll booths there are but I would take a lot of change for both directions. I got pretty good at tossing the change without stopping.

Unfortunately, they’ve closed all the “change” & manned booths, so either have an I or EZ-Pass, or pay online.

HRG

We just got back from a trip to Chicago. We went through numerous toll booths from Madison to Chicago. We didn’t do anything to prepare ahead of time. Your supposed to be able to Pay by Plate on the IPASS website. We setup and account with my plate number. They allow you to pay after the fact. I think my wife entered a Credit Card number on our account. We’ve been waiting for our charges to show up for my plate. It is going on 3 weeks so far and nothing is showing up. They allow you to pay up to 2 weeks after. We are trying to figure out what to do since the charges don’t show up yet. We don’t know if they will automatically charge our CC once the charges show up. Clear as mud? Check out the GETIPASS.COM website.

tindall wrote:

I have an EZ pass that works in many states (including IL and MN). I’m not sure if the various versions (I-Pass, MNPass, SunPass, etc) only work in their respective states, or if they are just rebranded units that work with all the EZ pass systems. Seems silly that they even have state specific ones.

The toll is less if you have a pass, but you need to charge the account with a certain amount which might not be worth it if you don’t travel toll roads much. IMO it is worth paying to not have to stop.

x2 iPass/EZ Pass tolls are literally half of the cash tolls and you drive straight through. Toll road has been reconfigured so that cash payments require pulling off to go through the toll booth, a big time waste.

Like Suzuki, we used to carry a bag of change to get through Chicago on our way to the in-laws lake cottage in Michigan. We’d put some pennies in for our young son to pitch at the toll machine, cheap entertainment.

suzuki wrote:

I always filled a baggie with quarters, nickels and dimes to go through there.
Been a while so I dont recall how many toll booths there are but I would take a lot of change for both directions. I got pretty good at tossing the change without stopping.

That’s what I did 3 years ago and ran out of change REAL QUICK! It ain’t as cheap as the old days and I was breaking out the paper before I got to Indiana.

I took a road trip from MN to North Carolina this past fall to see family. After that trip, I can honestly say I hate toll roads. I’ll fly next time or drive through Canada and come down through New York.

Decided to take the toll roads to Port Clinton this year. Bought this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08C3T3KYR?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Just follow the instructions and you are all set up. Worked sweet however if you are looking to save money just go to google maps then enter in you destination then pick the avoid tolls setting and enter. Going to Port Clinton from Minneapolis without tolls is 1 hour more, not sure it was worth the $87 toll each way.

There is only one toll once you get into Illinois. You will be turning off the toll road and taking I 39 south after the toll. You will be free of tolls in Illinois.

Not sure if your heading south of Indy through Louisville Ky but there is a toll bridge to get into Kentucky

Ipass works on the toll bridge along with others.

I’d go online and set up the pay by plate if you don’t want a transponder and enjoy your trip. Not sure if pay by plate works on the Kentucky toll bridge.

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

or, you could jump off I-90 at exit 3, and side-road it for a bit, re-joining just before you head to I-39. Google Map it, and select avoid tolls.

HRG

This. Tell google to avoid toll roads. Done.

Thanks for all the great info everyone.
We’ll either do the pay by plate or just bypass that short section in Illinois since that’s the only toll part.
Yes, we will be heading thru Louisville, actually spending Saturday night there on the way down so thanks for the heads up on the toll bridge. I’ll do a little research on that one.

No toll roads up here so really don’t need an I Pass (last toll I remember paying was leaving the Orlando airport with a rental).
Looking forward to seeing some new country, and hope to do some sampling of the local bourbons while we’re there also!!

Just had a friend get back from staying here in Gatlinburg, and said it was awesome!

https://treehouse-grove.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=local

Looks sweet!
We’ve got an Airbnb cabin rented in the mountains NE of Gatlinburg with a great view and deck hot tub. Really looking forward to checking out the area for a week!!

One of the very best things about retirement. Is planning routes that avoid big cities entirely. The straightest line on a map isn’t always the fastest. My fishing buddy just got back from the Carolinas. He asked me how to avoid traffic in Atlanta. Told him avoid Atlanta. He didn’t listen, took him almost 2 hours to get thru. Chicago can be as bad. Remember the farther south you go. Road construction season is in full swing. Illinois is one of the worst for that. Hard to imagine sitting in the north country. We travel thousands of miles a year. Been thru a toll booth in once in 25 years. Tennessee had the best gas prices here to Florida in March.

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Hot Runr Guy wrote:</div>
or, you could jump off I-90 at exit 3, and side-road it for a bit, re-joining just before you head to I-39. Google Map it, and select avoid tolls.

HRG

This. Tell google to avoid toll roads. Done.

x3 This is what we’ve done for years and it doesn’t seem to add much time

xplorer wrote:

Looks sweet!
We’ve got an Airbnb cabin rented in the mountains NE of Gatlinburg with a great view and deck hot tub. Really looking forward to checking out the area for a week!!

Awesome, would love to hear about your trip after you get back, I’ve heard nothing but good things about that area.

I live in Illinois and everything is tolled. If you want to avoid tolls get into Indiana and then head South. Tolls are double in Illinois if you don’t have IPass or acceptable alternative. Good luck.

TOLLS:

We drove through the Rockford tolls a couple of weeks ago. There is no booth open for change or cash so scrap any thought of that.

My son has a couple times … they eventually get your registered address from the state of MN DOT via your plate. A bill comes in the mail. Pay it. If you don’t they add penalties, etc… don’t want to have that outstanding if you travel IL.

We did not pay … if they mail us a bill I will pay it.

GAS PRICES …

Fill up in WI before Madison is the cheapest and prices go up as you drive towards the IL border. Then get to Paducah, KY. KY gas prices were the lowest.

I see you are heading east mid-IL towards Indiana. No idea on gas prices i Indiana.

You will pay almost a $1/gallon more in IL … mostly I suspect due to taxes. Most IL gas was $4.59/gallon or more and we were no where near Chicago.

Troopers:

Most know that WI I94 and I90 are heavily patrolled by state troopers and local police. There are many “speed” traps across WI and people are being pulled over.

IL seems to be the state of speed. You can go pretty fast and still get passed. Again just don’t buy gas there.

stevenoak wrote:

One of the very best things about retirement. Is planning routes that avoid big cities entirely. The straightest line on a map isn’t always the fastest. My fishing buddy just got back from the Carolinas. He asked me how to avoid traffic in Atlanta. Told him avoid Atlanta. He didn’t listen, took him almost 2 hours to get thru. Chicago can be as bad. Remember the farther south you go. Road construction season is in full swing. Illinois is one of the worst for that. Hard to imagine sitting in the north country. We travel thousands of miles a year. Been thru a toll booth in once in 25 years. Tennessee had the best gas prices here to Florida in March.

Last time I had to drive through Chicago, I gassed up before the city, then passed right through it. It was the middle of the night though so there wasn’t much for traffic. I even pulled over on the side of the interstate to wizz. I was driving and my fiances family was in the car and I didn’t want to stop at a gas station because then they all wake up and want to go inside… Took my chances and it paid off big time. Only 1 person woke up and said what happened? “Uhh nothing, just had to pee”…

I grew up near Madison and in LaCrosse so am well aware of the trooper “presence” on the 90/94 starting from about the Dells south.
I’m gonna set up pay by plate for both the one toll in IL and the bridge crossing in/out of Kentucky, and not worry about it. (google says 20 minutes more each way to avoid the $1.90 toll, not worth it)
IL sounds like western NoDak and eastern Montana. I can’t seem to drive fast enough when I head out to Crosby ND rooster hunting or on the way out to Glacier. Cruise set at 80 and just getting left in the dust
Looks like we can get from Madison, where we’re staying Friday night, all the way into Indiana on a full tank if need be, but since we planned a quick “stretch our legs” every couple/3 hours, I’ll probably just top off once in between.
Looking forward to some warm temps and no wind chill off of Superior (24 WC currently at Park Point)

Gewt an EZ Pass, havent had to think about tolls for years

We just came back through that toll on I-39 just south of WI. and I panicked as there was no booth to pay at. After we got home, wife looked the next day and they hadn’t posted our plate yet. About a week later our plate showed up and she set up an account with a charge card. About $2 for the toll and if we ever go through again, it will just charge card. Thought it was really stupid at the time, but once your set up, easier than ever. My kid said I should just get an ipass, but we might go through a toll once every 5 years at most.

Cheapest gas near Madison is the DeForest, WI Fleet/Farm at Highway 19 exit. Has-been running anywhere from. 10 to 30 cents less than most places for the last 15 months.