I-80 construction in Will County no picnic
BY JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media jseidel@suntimes.com August 12, 2011 5:20PM
Traffic moves slowly in a single lane during construction on westbound Interstate 80 near the Wheeler Avenue bridge in Joliet Thursday, August 11, 2011. | Brett Roseman ~ Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 16, 2011 1:25AM
Everyone seems to have a back-up route by now. At least locals do.
Scot Mangun of New Lenox said he detours on U.S. 6 and Laraway Road.
Steve Reynolds of Willowbrook, a driver for FedEx Freight, said he’ll sometimes use Interstate 55 and Arsenal Road.
They do all they can to avoid the summer construction on Interstate 80, and they’re joined by many others. But crawling cars still fill up the expressway on a daily basis.
Mangun and Reynolds figure those drivers don’t know where they’re going, or they don’t live around here.
“If they do they’re a damn fool,” Mangun said.
The mess is scheduled to end around mid-October, IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said this week.
Two projects are under way on the highway, with a combined work zone of 22 miles and a total price tag of $57.3 million.
IDOT is adding a third lane in each direction between U.S. 30 and La Grange Road to accommodate increased traffic from Interstate 355’s southern extension. It’s also resurfacing the highway between U.S. 30 and the Grundy County Line.
It’s the second project, Tridgell said, that causes most of the delay around Joliet. One lane has been closed in each direction between Larkin and Rowell avenues this summer to make room for the patching and resurfacing work.
Beth Mosher, a local spokeswoman for AAA Motor Club, said out-of-town drivers often travel through this area, particularly in the summer.
“We encourage people all the time, when they’re going on any sort of trip, to preplan as best as possible,” Mosher said.
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