More than 100 Illinois tollway workers braved below-freezing temperatures Monday to protest the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority’s refusal to guarantee their jobs in writing.

The authority’s management will not commit to a contract guaranteeing the continued existence of toll collectors’ jobs. Toll workers fear for their livelihood in what will become an increasingly electronic toll collection process.

As much as the toll workers have reason to protest, so, too, do Illinois drivers.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich dealt Illinois drivers a raw deal when he announced a $5.3 billion plan to revitalize Illinois’ roads in the summer of 2004.

The cornerstone of the plan was the installation of the I-PASS as the only means of toll collection.

The I-PASS was originally introduced in a thinly-veiled campaign as a way to alleviate long commutes by eliminating the necessity of stopping at clogged toll booths.

The I-PASS was supposed to be a convenience but not a mandated one. However, with the doubling of tolls for drivers without an I-PASS, it has almost mandated the I-PASS.

For many drivers and truckers without the device, traveling Illinois toll roads has become prohibitively expensive.

Signs posted at tollbooths announcing the increased tolls almost slap drivers in the face with their concluding statement, “No increase for I-PASS users.”

For those who submitted to buying the I-PASS, they had to surrender hard-earned money up front for tollway trips they may or may not take in the near future.

While certain low-income users can purchase an I-PASS at a reduced rate, in general, the I-PASS costs $50 to get started if purchasers choose automatic replenishment and $60 if not. For the first option, the I-PASS automatically charges $40 to one’s credit card when the account balance drops below $10. This amount is too high for some drivers and too rigid in general.

Illinois drivers deserve better than the underhanded politicking of the Blagojevich administration.

It is plain now that it was part of the governor’s plan all along to make I-PASS mandatory. Illinois drivers deserve some straight talk from the administration they may have voted into office but to whom they never issued a blank check.

Gov. Blagojevich may hold the knife on the toll workers’ chopping block, but he might do well to remember that Illinois voters hold a proverbial knife for him as well. His handling of the I-PASS policy is indicative of his disregard for the people of Illinois. Voters should keep this is mind come election time.