Paving the way for huge traffic jam come Friday

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Drivers are advised to stay away from both Wacker Drive and Lake Street Friday as more than 1,100 cubic yards of concrete are poured to create a new intersection at Wacker and Randolph.

The intersection is the first of seven to be rebuilt as part of the Wacker Drive reconstruction project, city officials said.

About 125 trucks will deliver concrete to the site starting about 8 a.m. and the work will last about eight hours, according to the city Department of Transportation. The work will occur “weather permitting.”

The concrete deck will be 13 inches thick when completed. The amount of concrete used is equivalent to roughly 18 city blocks of sidewalk, or about 2.25 miles, officials said. The work was to start today.

Crews working on the project have removed both Upper and Lower Wacker from Randolph Street to about 200 feet south of Washington Street, installed new columns and laced forms to support the pouring of concrete for Upper Wacker.

All the work has happened while the city has kept Lower Wacker open to traffic to allow access to loading docks and parking garages. The Wacker reconstruction began Jan. 3.