The Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) Resurfacing Project between 95th Street in Oak Lawn, Ill., and Balmoral Avenue in Rosemont, Ill. began on April 2.
Work includes roadway repairs and resurfacing the 19-mile section between 95th Street and Franklin Avenue in Franklin Park with a new layer of asphalt and concrete repairs on the three-mile section from Franklin Avenue to Balmoral Avenue to extend the life of the roadway and provide a new, smooth surface. The project also includes repairs to 54 bridge structures throughout the corridor. The $112.6 million project will be complete in late fall 2012.
“The Central Tri-State is one of the heavily traveled sections on the Tollway system, so most of the work will be done during overnight hours when traffic is lighter and fewer drivers will be impacted,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur in a written press statement. “We remind drivers to obey construction workzone speed limits at all times and be aware of workers so we can safely deliver these improvements to our customers.”
The majority of the work on the Central Tri-State project will be done during overnight hours to minimize the impact to traffic in this highly-traveled corridor that is used by up to 190,000 vehicles a day.
The Tollway will use traffic shifts and shoulders to keep as many lanes open during peak hours as were available before construction. Four lanes in both directions will be maintained during daytime hours and all lane closures will be scheduled during overnight hours.Traffic shifts at the bridges will provide a long-term work zone while keeping four lanes open to traffic during peak hours.
The corridor includes pavement constructed in 1958, 1972 and 1992. While older segments of pavement have been repaired and resurfaced numerous times, this will be the first resurfacing of the newer pavement sections.
Initial work on the project includes pre-stage work to remove the rumble strips and repair the shoulders in both directions before shifting traffic to create work zones.
