On The Road to Tollway Construction

You can't say I didn't warn you!  I'll try to be gentle and not bombard you with the myriad of construction projects we'll be faced with this year...just enough to keep it interesting! 

That being said, today I'll focus on the Resurfacing & Bridge Repair Project on I-355, The Veterans Memorial Tollway.  Beginning April 5th crews will begin work on 18 miles I-355.  You may be thinking, wait a minute...didn't they just resurface, and add a lane between 75th and Odgen over the past 2 years?  Yes, they did, but this year, they'll be working on either side of that new pavement!  Pavement repairs will be made on various lanes between I-55 (the Stevenson Expressway) and 83rd St.  Then, crews will resurface the stretch between 83rd and 75th, and the long stretch between Ogden and Army Trail.  *This will coincide with IDOT's resurfacing of the I-290 extension from Army Trail to Thorndale.   Still with me?  Good!  Let's continue!

Also as part of this project, 44 bridge structures will be repaired, including the big fly-over ramps at the I-88 interchange.  Noise abatement walls are supposed to go in at the nearby Butterfield Road interchange, to help reduce noise in the residential area bordering the tollway.

The good news for motorists is during construction, 3 lanes of traffic (what is there now) will remain open in each direction.  The bad news is, there will be traffic cross-over lanes in the work zone...those always cause congestion.  Back to the good news again - this is a one year project with a scheduled completion date of October 31st.

For those of you who drive I-355 regularly, you may be asking why a fairly new road (20 years old this year) that is in pretty good shape needs to be resurfaced right now.  The answer, according to the Tollway, is that by resurfacing now, before it's in really bad shape, they can extend the life of the entire structure so they don't have to do a complete reconstruction that would be more costly, more time consuming and create more headaches for drivers.

If you'd like more details on the I-355 project, check out the Tollway's web site at www.illinoistollway.com or  Download 355 Resurface Fact Sheet_3-12-10.

 

Comments

[Boom Trucks]

Look on the bright side. At least we can still afford construction on our roads. That's better than some countries right now!

[forestry trucks]

This is going to take a lot of work. I hope they have stimulus money ready

[renamer]

Yeah, i also think we should look on the bright side. Theres a lot of work to do as well, thats also true.

[Megan Payne]

Yup, the toll fee goes up, but the roads would be safer and smoother to travel on. That would also allow for better facilities and services, like emergency tow trucks, for example. That is enough a reward as it is.