Gov. Pritzker Announces Six-Year Plan for $1.2 Billion I-80 Corridor Improvement Project

Photo: WJOL.com

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation were joined today by local officials and community leaders to announce a six-year plan to rebuild Interstate 80 in Will County. Made possible by the Governor’s historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program, the $1.2 billion project will replace more than 50-year-old infrastructure on a condensed timeframe and create thousands of construction and permanent jobs while positioning the region for long-term economic opportunity.

“This rebuild will transform 16 miles of I-80, redesign auxiliary lanes and interchanges to reduce congestion, and rehabilitate over 30 bridges along the roadway. These overdue improvements will not only make it safer for commercial drivers, but for the thousands of families who rely on I-80 to commute to work, drive their kids to school, and move safely through their daily lives,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “While this project is ambitious in scale, it has also been designed to minimize its impact on the residents that live along the highway. New pedestrian and bicyclist paths will help keep communities better connected and eight miles of noise walls will help keep surrounding neighborhoods insulated from noisy traffic.”

“The I-80 project is a major step in the amazing Rebuild Illinois plan,” said Lt. Governor Stratton. “The purpose is to improve infrastructure, but at its core Rebuild Illinois is about connecting us as people by repairing the roads and bridges we travel every day to work, school, and to visit friends and loved ones.”

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. Due to the outdated design and capacity restraints, congestion as well as frequent merging and weaving are common. To shorten the construction timeline, several project components and land acquisition efforts will be done concurrently to deliver a cornerstone project of Rebuild Illinois more quickly, with less impact to the public.

Starting next year, the section from Ridge Road to the DuPage River will be under construction as land acquisition progresses and final engineering is completed on the replacement of the Des Plaines River bridges. Improvements will begin from Ridge Road to U.S. 30 in 2023, leaving construction of the Des Plaines River bridges and Center Street and U.S. 52/Illinois 53 (Chicago Street) interchanges in 2026 and 2027.

Advance work on I-80 started this summer with a $41.7 million project to replace the eastbound bridges over Hickory Creek, Richards Street, 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 next year, similar improvements will begin in the westbound direction.

When it wraps up in 2027, the overall I-80 project will have redesigned and rebuilt 16 miles from Ridge Road, in Minooka, to U.S. 30, in Joliet and New Lenox, while adding or extending auxiliary lanes to improve safety and reduce congestion. Interchanges will have been rebuilt or improved at Interstate 55, Illinois 7, Center Street, Chicago Street, Richards Street and Briggs Street, with a new flyover ramp linking southbound I-55 to westbound I-80 to improve traffic flow and safety. More than 30 bridges will have been rehabilitated or replaced.

“With demand for freight projected to double in northeastern Illinois the next 20 years, Will County’s role as a transportation hub and the country’s largest inland port is critical,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “We know I-80 drives commerce in this vitally important part of the state. At the governor’s direction, we are expediting these improvements as quickly as we can.”

Read the full article at: Illinois.gov

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