The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has confirmed that it will issue the RFQ to design, build, finance, maintain and operate the Illinois portion of the expressway on 8 November.
Also as part of the proposals, the deal will utilise an availability payment structure.
The project, which is being procured alongside the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), will see both organisations work together to co-ordinate technical requirements, tolling policy, the federal environmental approval process, and construction schedules.
As part of the existing plans, the highway will run from I-55 near Wilmington, Illinois, to I-65 near Cedar Lake, Indiana.
INDOT will procure its portion of the deal alongside the Indiana Finance Authority and - as reported by PPP Bulletin last month - a similar RFQ is due in the coming months.
The proposals for the $1bn highway project have been blighted by controversy and had been hanging in the balance after being rejected by key Chicago planning agencies.
The project had looked in jeopardy after the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s (CMAP) board voted against the deal, only for the agency’s Policy Committee, which has final say on major transport deals, to give the proposal the green light at the end of October.