March 13, 2018

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The Illinois Tollways M-7 Vehicle Maintenance Facility project in Rockford, Illinois, located at East State Street and I-90, is the second site to be addressed in a system-wide program being planned, designed and engineered by Epstein. The first facility, the LEED-NC Gold certified M-1 in Alsip, Illinois, was completed in 2015.

Illinois Tollway M-1 Maintenance Facility

The M-7 facility, which is also pursuing LEED-NC Silver certification & will be operational later this year, is comprised of an approximately 165 by 400 maintenance building which houses 35,000 square feet of truck and equipment parking and a welding shop; 6,500 square feet of parts, storage, management offices; a storage mezzanine; and a functionally connected, six-bay truck maintenance garage of some 8,500 square feet. In addition, the facility will have an administrative support area of 6,000 square feet that houses an independent State Highway Patrol facility and Tollway driver support, a space that includes locker rooms and a break/small assembly area for daily and emergency storm logistic briefings. Site design reconstruction for M-7 also includes fuel island upgrades, and an equipment building to support a communication tower.


In addition, to help reduce the highly aggressive corrosive impact of 24/7 snow removal and rescue activities, M-7 will have an independent-free-standing truck-wash facility on site constructed with similar pre-cast materials as the maintenance facility.

Lastly, the M-7 facility also features a 193 kilowatt (kW) solar array on the roof which will produce an estimated 251,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year, which is almost $20,000 worth of electricity. And, most importantly, this solar array will significantly reduce emissions to the equivalent of 40 cars per year or the burning 204,000 lbs. of coal.