Next phase of Dan Ryan reconstruction looms

Come Thursday, if the weather cooperates, the last leg of the Dan Ryan reconstruction project begins with the closing of the expressway's local lanes until fall.

Shutting down the locals will shrink capacity on the Chicago area's busiest expressway to a little more than half -- similar to what drivers experienced last year when the express lanes were rebuilt.

The good news is, most people who used the Dan Ryan during last year's batch of closings didn't see their commute times double, as state officials warned they might.

That's because more than 30 percent of regular Dan Ryan drivers apparently did what the Illinois Department of Transportation asked, taking public transit or using alternate routes.

From June through September, the months for which traffic impacts could be measured by road sensors, average travel times on the outbound Ryan increased six minutes, while inbound travelers took 13 extra minutes to get from 95th Street to the circle interchange, data from the state's GCM Travel Web site show.

August was particularly bad, with the average inbound trip taking 22 minutes longer than in 2005.

When the $975 million project wraps up late this year, the Dan Ryan will have an additional lane of traffic in each direction from 47th to 95th, repaved access roads leading to the expressway and reconstructed interchanges and ramps -- all of which are designed to improve traffic flow and safety.

mjthomas@suntimes.com