IDOT Launches New Site to Keep Public Informed on I-80 Reconstruction
The Illinois Department of Transportation has launched a new website, I80will.org, to provide the public with the latest information on the $1.2 billion reconstruction of Interstate 80 through Will County, one of the cornerstone projects of Governor JB Pritzker’s historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program.
As one of the country’s three coast-to-coast interstates, I-80 through Joliet and Will County carries approximately 80,000 vehicles a day, about 25% of which are trucks. Advance work on I-80 started last year with a $41.7 million project to replace eastbound bridges over Hickory Creek, Richards Street and Rowell Avenue/Canadian National Railroad, and westbound over Richards Street, in Joliet, Rockdale and New Lenox, while widening eastbound I-80 from Gardner Street to Rowell Avenue. Once the eastbound improvements are completed later this year, similar improvements will begin in the westbound direction.
Project News
$1 billion proposed for I-80
The push to improve Interstate 80 got a boost Friday when Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed a state capital plan that includes $1 billion for Interstate 80.
Pritzker unveils $41.5 billion capital plan
A proposal shown to lawmakers includes major new spending on roads, transit, schools and more, but would require a doubling of the gas tax and new levies on items like vehicle registration, liquor, cable TV and ride-hailing.
Overnight Lane Closures For Safety Upgrades On I-80
Overnight Lane Closures For Safety Upgrades On I-80 By Monica DeSantis | Apr 25, 2019 The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that overnight lane closures are scheduled starting May 1 on Interstate 80 in Joliet for the installation of shoulder...
State resolution aimed at converting I-80 into tollway
State Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., D-Elwood, has introduced legislation aimed at converting the local stretch of Interstate 80 into a tollway.
I-80 Coalition to push for highway funding
A coalition created to push for improvements to Interstate 80 will point to $623 billion of freight coming through Will County a year, making a case the local corridor has national importance.
New grass-roots I-80 Coalition seeks to speed up road improvements
A new grass-roots effort, known as the I-80 Coalition, has been launched by the Will County Center for Economic Development to hasten needed improvements to I-80.
New coalition wants to speed up I-80 work
A new I-80 Coalition is being formed to speed up long-term plans to improve the interstate.
Tollway willing to step in to fund I-80 upgrades, chairman tells Joliet City Council
The chairman of the state tollway board laid out a case to the Joliet City Council on Monday for turning the local stretch of Interstate 80 into a toll road.