Chicago Skyway

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The Chicago Skyway is a 7.8-mile elevated toll road connecting I-94 (Dan Ryan Expressway) in Chicago to I-90 (Indiana Toll Road) at the Indiana border. The facility includes a 3.5-mile elevated mainline structure crossing the Calumet River. Built in 1958, the Skyway was operated and maintained by the City of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation. In March 2004, the City of Chicago issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) from potential bidders interested in operating the facility on a long-term lease basis in March of 2004. It received 10 responses and in May 2004 invited five groups to prepare proposals. Bids were submitted in October 2004, with the long-term lease awarded to Cintra/Macquarie on October 28, 2004. Cintra/Macquarie bid $1.83 billion for the 99-year concession, 2.6 times as much as the next highest bidder, a French and Canadian group led by Vinci Concessions. Abertis Infraestructuras of Spain was the only other bidder, offering $505 million for the lease. The Skyway Concession Company, LLC (SCC) assumed operations on the Skyway on January 26, 2005. SCC is responsible for all operating and maintenance costs of the Skyway but has the right to all toll and concession revenue. This agreement between SCC and the City of Chicago was the first long term lease of an existing toll road in the United States. In June 2015, Cintra and Macquarie, seeking to make a return on their equity investment, announced their intent to sell all interest in SCC. A consortium comprising three Canadian pension funds (Calumet Concession Partners LLC) agreed to purchase the lease for $2.8 billion in November 2015. The Canadian Pension Consortium will operate and collect tolls on the Skyway for the remainder of the lease, until 2104.

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