Illinois Tollway adding extra roadway assistance crews during hottest days this week

The Illinois Tollway has launched 24-hour hot weather patrols to deploy additional crews, enabling them to more quickly locate and assist motorists stranded along its system during the dangerously hot and humid conditions expected to continue through Friday.

The around-the-clock patrols search for drivers stranded in disabled vehicles and respond to calls that come in to *999 motorist assistance, Illinois Tollway dispatch, or Illinois State Police, according to a news release from the Illinois Tollway.

While the Illinois Tollway’s Highway Emergency Lane Patrol (H.E.L.P.) trucks supported run from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, a minimum of 12 hot weather patrols are providing additional coverage around the clock throughout the heat wave to augment H.E.L.P. trucks, according to the release.

To obtain help while traveling on the tollway system, drivers should dial *999 for roadway assistance and note the roadway and direction of travel and nearest milepost or crossroad. Stranded motorists should turn on their emergency lights and remain with their vehicles until help arrives, according to the release.

The hot weather patrols consist of crew cab trucks equipped with arrow boards for directing traffic around stranded vehicles and can accommodate passengers if motorists need to get out of the heat or be transported to a tollway maintenance garage or to a tollway oasis while service is obtained, according to the release.

The hot weather patrols typically assist drivers whose cars or trucks have been disabled by empty fuel tanks, flat tires, batteries needing a boost, or overheated radiators.

Summer Travel Tips

The Tollway offers the following travel tips to keep safe during summer weather:

1. Keep your tires properly inflated. Driving on under-inflated tires can cause tires to overheat and increase the likelihood of a blowout, especially when road temperatures are extremely high.
2. Make sure fluids are at appropriate levels. Most engine fluids lubricate and serve as coolants by helping carry heat away from critical components. Low fluid levels reduce the cooling effect and increase the possibility of overheating.
3. Keep an emergency kit in your vehicle that includes water, non-perishable food items, jumper cables, a flashlight with extra batteries, road flares or an emergency beacon, basic hand tools, and a first aid kit.
4. Drop it and drive. Using a hand-held phone while driving is illegal in Illinois.
5. Give them distance. Drivers are required to slow down and move over when approaching any stopped vehicle that has its hazard lights activated.

The Illinois Tollway also reminds customers that oases located along the Tollway system provide drivers an opportunity to check their vehicles or simply take a break.