History

Emergency Traffic Patrol

In late 1960, the Illinois Department of Transportation made a decision to open a segment of the Congress Street Expressway in Chicago to traffic despite the fact that construction was not fully completed. In one location, the drop off from the pavement to the shoulder was about 8 inches. Since the shoulder was not available for disabled vehicles, they would remain in the traffic lanes and create significant traffic jams.

To address this situation, a small number of vans and trucks were assigned to patrol the area – the original Emergency Traffic Patrol. They were simply equipped with radiotelephones, extra warning lights, road flares, barricades, push bumpers and tanks of compressed air. Upon encountering a disabled vehicle or accident scene, the Emergency Traffic Patrol would push the vehicle/s from the roadway or remain to protect the scene until a private tow truck and law enforcement arrived. The program was an immediate success generating hundreds of complimentary letters to the Department.

Early in 1961, a proposal was made by Illinois State Highway officials to make the program permanent and expand it to other heavily traveled parts of the Chicago expressway network.

The program became so successful in the Chicago area that IDOT decided to create another patrol in southern Illinois. This patrol began operation in January of 1968 and covered Interstate 55/70 from the interchange in Troy to the Poplar Street Bridge in St. Louis.

Today the Illinois Department of Transportation continues to provide the Emergency Traffic Patrol to motorists traveling within the same two areas; however, these areas have been greatly expanded as has the fleet of Emergency Patrol Vehicles.

Please see the “COVERAGE AREA” portion of this site for further coverage information.