CHICAGO (AP) — Commuters will get a new way to navigate around the highway bottlenecks surrounding O'Hare International Airport.

Federal approval has been given to a series of long-planned road works known as the Elgin-O'Hare Western Access Project.

The $3.4 billion project will extend the existing Elgin O'Hare Expressway to the western edge of airport where it will link up with a new bypass road that will take drivers either south to the I-294 Tri-State Tollway or north to the I-90 Jane Addams Memorial Tollway.

The new western bypass road will be an all-electronic toll route built by the Illinois Tollway agency.

The project includes an access ramp that will open a western entry point into O'Hare airport.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced the final approval Thursday. Construction is expected to start this year.