When a motorist is stranded on the highway far from the nearest service center, it can be a downright scary experience.
That’s why the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority on Monday decided to H.E.L.P.–with a new program called the Highway Emergency Lane Patrol–which is aimed at providing assistance to stranded motorists during peak weekday tollway traffic hours.
Starting Thursday, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, seven white trucks, all bearing bold green H.E.L.P. logos, will begin cruising the most congested parts of the tollway system–an area identified as generally east of the Fox River–looking for motorists in trouble, disabled vehicles and other emergency situations.
The program is being operated in cooperation with District 15 of the Illinois State Police, said John Benda, head of the tollway’s maintenance division.
It’s a program that will run in conjunction with the existing Motorist Aid Patrol, which responds only when called.
The new program is being launched in hopes of more effectively and efficiently providing assistance to motorists, tollway officials said.
The idea is to provide set hours for assistance to better respond to requests for service, said Benda. Weekends and holidays, the Motorist Aid Patrol will be available on demand, he added.
Patrols will be out cruising the roadway, but people can also call for help by dialing *999 on their cellular telephones or the state patrol’s non-emergency number, 630-241-6800.
“This is something we’ve been looking at doing for a couple of years,” said Benda.
The emergency trucks will cruise the tollways east of the Fox River because it’s the area that’s most congested and produces the most requests for help, Benda said.
Last year, he noted, there were more than 10,000 emergency assistance incidents logged in that area, compared with just over 1,000 in the area west of the Fox.
This area includes all of the Tri-State and North-South Tollways and much of the Northwest and East-West Tollways.
