You're next, Ike: resurfacing to begin in April
After traffic-snarling projects on other interstates, I-290 resurfacing to begin in April
Eisenhower riders, you knew your day was coming. Construction has snarled traffic on the Dan Ryan, the Edens, the tollways and the Bishop Ford in recent years, and next spring it's the Ike's turn.
The Illinois Department of Transportation plans a resurfacing project for I-290 between Thorndale and the Circle, tentatively scheduled to start in April 2010 and concluding next fall, according to IDOT spokeswoman Marisa Kollias.
(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)
Resurfacing work will also be done on I-355 between Army Trail Road and 290, for a total of 27 miles of resurfacing and repairs to 37 bridges.
Details of the work -- such as how many lanes will be under construction at one time -- are not yet available.
This won't be the complete rebuilding project on the Eisenhower -- that won't come for another six years. Rebuilding means more than resurfacing, and involves tearing up the expressway and rebuilding from the concrete up, including new drainage and new bridges.
This is the kind of big project that was done on the Dan Ryan three years ago, and on parts of the Tollways over the last two years.
Right now, IDOT is holding meetings with suburban officials and citizens to figure out the impact of rebuilding and possibly widening the expressway between Cicero and Mannheim. The first public meeting on the project will be held next week on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Best Western at 440 N. Frontage Rd. in Hillside.
"We're just getting started on a three-year planning process," said Peter Harmet, bureau chief of programming for IDOT. After the planning will be three years of design work and acquisition of property before the project gets started.
The Eisenhower pavement between Mannheim and Cicero is 50 years old and needs to be rebuilt, said Hamet. Widening is a possibility, as are high-occupancy vehicle and/or bus rapid transit lanes.
"With a major rebuilding, there's a possibility to do things that would be a real asset to the community," said Harmet. There's also the certainty of great disruption, which is why IDOT is doing all these meetings.
The Eisenhower is four lanes in each direction until about Austin, and then narrows to three lanes in each direction, before widening out again after Mannheim.