Commuters Brace For Trio Of New Construction Projects

By Amy Perry in News on Mar 29, 2010 9:00PM

Many commuters are wondering why three construction projects affecting downtown traffic are all happening at the same time. Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marisa Kollias told the Sun-Times that the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago planned the projects together to minimize long-term effects on commuters. Starting Thursday, the three-year Wacker Drive project begins with the closing of ramps to and from Congress and repairs begin on the Congress bridge leading in and out of downtown. Lower Wacker will go to one lane in each direction. One the same day, the resurfacing of 27 miles of the Eisenhower from Thorndale to the Loop begins and construction continues on the inbound Kennedy Expressway in the Loop. The resurfacing is expected to last until October. Said Kollias, "It’s really an unprecedented effort to build better roads in the downtown area and heading out to the western suburbs. We're working as one team. The idea is to disrupt the public as little as possible. Even though it's a disruption, we'd rather do it all at once and be done. If we were to do it separately, it would take 10 years or more."