IDOT Listens To Complaints About Circle Interchange Construction Plans

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 25, 2013 7:10PM

The Circle Interchange Could be widened, with some ramps inching feet away from homeowners. (Photo credit: nathanmac87)

It looks like the Illinois Department of Transportation is taking the concerns of residents who live near the Circle Interchange seriously and is looking at ways to adjust their proposed plans to rebuild the Circle Interchange so the 20th century roadway can handle 21st century traffic.

We wrote in April about how condo owners with a bird’s-eye view of the Eisenhower expressway were worried about some onramps being within spitting distance of their buildings as part of the project. The Tribune reports IDOT, which was already planning on having ramps built 20-26 feet away, is looking at adjusting the plans to minimize the impact on homeowners and Greektown business owners worried the new interchange would cut the neighborhood off from the rest of the city and, well, look bad. (Not that the Circle can’t look any worse now.)

The Circle Interchange hasn’t seen any major modifications since it was first built in the 1950s, handles 400,000 vehicles a day and is home to the worst bottlenecks in the city. IDOT says traffic on the interchange will increase 50 percent in the next quarter century.

There will be a meeting to discuss the proposed changes to the Circle Interchange 5 p.m. June 27 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 733 W. Madison St.