Moving quickly, Illinois DOT selected four strong teams as finalists on Jan. 18 to compete for a $1-billion, 35-year availability payment contract to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the 35-mile Illinois segment of the Illiana toll road that will be built as part of a complex development agreement with Indiana.

Together, the two states plan to start construction in the spring of 2015 on their segments of what will be a $2-billion, 47-mile freight/intermodal corridor operated as an open-road toll facility.