 | 11/20/2009 O’Plaine Road Bridge Reconstruction Complete on
North Tri-State (I-94) Tollway
Bridge Reopens on Schedule
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – The O’Plaine Road Bridge over the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) will reopen on schedule today, November 20, after being reconstructed and lengthened. Work to rebuild the bridge began in late 2008 and was completed while maintaining two-way traffic at all times.
Rebuilding and lengthening the O’Plaine Road Bridge allowed the Tollway to widen the Tri-State Tollway underneath O’Plaine Road to provide congestion relief and reduce travel times. The massive rebuilding and widening projects along a nearly 45-mile stretch of the Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294) from O’Hare International Airport to the Wisconsin State line launched in 2007 and is on budget and scheduled for completion this year as part of the Illinois Tollway’s $6.3 billion Congestion-Relief Program – Open Roads for a Faster Future.
New O’Plaine Road Bridge Opens Thursday
The new O’Plaine Road Bridge over I-94 is scheduled to open by the evening rush today, November 20. The temporary traffic signals in place to maintain traffic on the two-lane bridge during construction will be removed.
Construction on the two-lane, north-south bridge began in late 2008 with the northbound lane. When rebuilding of the northbound lane was completed in spring 2009, traffic was shifted onto the new pavement and reconstruction work began on the southbound lane. Temporary traffic signals were operating in order to maintain traffic in both directions.
The new bridge is a two-span, steel bridge with a reinforced concrete deck supported on a standard median pier by six, 343-foot long, 55-inch deep steel beams. More than 835 cubic yards of concrete was used to build the deck and substructure.
Bridge work was coordinated with the Lake County Department of Transportation and the villages of Gurnee, Green Oaks, and Waukegan to minimize the impact to drivers.
Know Before You Go
The Tollway offers a variety of ways for drivers to get the latest information on construction and traffic on our roads.
- www.illinoistollway.com – Construction Section – for details by road
- 1-800-TOLL-FYI – daily lane closure info
- Roadway and electronic signs
- www.gcmtravel.com – travel times
- Sign up for E-mail updates
- Up-to-the-minute traffic by road – www.nbc5.com
- Construction eNewsletter – www.illinoistollway.com
Part of Tollway’s Congestion-Relief Program
The North Tri-State (I-94/I-294) Rebuild & Widen Project is part of the Tollway’s Congestion-Relief Program, Open Roads for a Faster Future, which will reduce travel times by rebuilding/restoring nearly the entire system, widening/adding lanes to many miles of existing roads, converting 20 mainline toll plazas to barrier-free Open Road Tolling, and extending I-355 south to I-80 in Will County. By the end of 2009 the Illinois Tollway will complete nearly $3 billion in work to reconstruct/rehabilitate and widen about 120 miles of roadway across the 286-mile system. These improvements on the Tollway’s roads will result in a smoother ride for motorists and serve as an economic engine for Northern Illinois.
About the Illinois Tollway
The Illinois Tollway maintains and operates 286 miles of interstate tollways in 12 counties in Northern Illinois, including the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355), the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-94, I-294, I-80/I-294). Tollway customers save time and money with I-PASS electronic toll collection - Get I-PASS & Get Going!
All Work Is Weather Dependent.
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