CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–September 1, 2010. Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Secretary Gary Hannig today announced that Illinois along with the other Lake Michigan Interstate Gateway Alliance (LMIGA) partners are launching a new travel website to enhance services provided by the Gateway Traveler Information System. Formerly known as the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee (GCM) Priority Corridor found at www.gcmtravel.com, the new state-of-the-art website located at www.travelmidwest.com includes several enhancements to provide valuable traveler information to serve the needs of motorists and the LMIGA partners. The traveler information coverage extends from Southern Wisconsin through Northern Illinois and Northern Indiana into Southwestern Michigan.
“We are extremely proud of the dedication, hard work and diligence shown by all LMIGA partners to improve roadway safety in Illinois as well as across sections of the Midwest,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig. “We are confident the new features of the website will provide motorists with the most accurate and precise travel information they need to make well informed decisions.”
The Gateway Traveler Information System and www.travelmidwest.com website is a collaborative effort by the LMIGA partners, including the Illinois Department of Transportation, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Indiana Department of Transportation, Michigan Department of Transportation, Illinois Tollway, Skyway Concession Company LLC and the Indiana Toll Road Concession Company LLC.
LMIGA is a voluntary organization, with the above agencies serving as active members. The goal of LMIGA is to focus on operations within the region to ensure that traffic moves safely and efficiently. This goal is realized by interagency communication and coordination, improvement projects, training efforts, and region wide planning.
The www.travelmidwest.com website encompasses approximately 1,570 roadway miles across 51 counties in the four-state LMIGA coverage area. The www.travelmidwest.com website includes a traffic map with pan/zoom features, user customization, trucker reports, re-designed traffic reports, camera features, highlighted travel time alerts on maps and reports and multi-line banner messages. The Gateway Traveler Information System is staffed 24/7 to provide necessary operations support for the www.travelmidwest.com website.
In 1993, the U.S. Department of Transportation identified the GCM Corridor as an Intelligent Transportation System Priority Corridor. Initial membership included a coalition of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin transportation agencies and other interested parties. The primary focus of GCM was corridor planning and development of coordinated responses to traffic congestion. In late 2006, the focus of the GCM Corridor was re-oriented towards interstate operations, and the name was changed to LMIGA to reflect the new focus. Under LMIGA, the corridor boundaries have been expanded to include southwest Michigan and the area east and south of Madison, Wisconsin.
LMIGA regional travel information, including current travel time, congestion, incident, construction, special event, and weather information is available on the Travel Midwest website. Motorists should now utilize www.travelmidwest.com for the latest travel information extending from Southern Wisconsin through Northern Illinois and Northern Indiana into Southwestern Michigan.
Source: illinois.gov
