Post-Labor Day start for Ill. 72, Ill. 47 repairs

HAMPSHIRE -- The long-awaited conversion of Illinois 72 in the Hampshire-Pingree Grove area from a washboard of potholes to smooth new blacktop will begin about Labor Day. And the repaving of Illinois 47 in Plato Township will follow about the same time.

Roger Valente, area programmer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said Thursday that a contract has been let to repave Illinois 72 from French Road to its intersection with Illinois 47/U.S. 20. The contract went to the low bidder, Curran Contracting Co. of DeKalb, for $1.64 million.

Deadline for the work is Oct. 31.

Jeff Hammes, a spokesman for Curran, said his company will hold a preconstruction conference with IDOT officials next week and a starting date will be set soon afterward. "But I'm guessing we'll start working right after Labor Day," Hammes said.

"That stretch is definitely in need," Hammes said, not mentioning anything every driver along it in recent months has not noticed.

During the two months or so that crews are tearing up the old Route 72 and preparing to lay down new, motorists might be wise to go around a different way, such as U.S. 20 and Allen Road. Hammes said traffic will be limited to one lane at a time in the area immediately being worked on, with alternating traffic directed by flaggers.

Meanwhile, Valente said a contract to repave Illinois 47 from Plato Road to Illinois 64 will be let shortly, if it hasn't been already. That work also is expected to start within the next few weeks and will have a deadline of Oct. 15.

In both cases, workers will mill off the existing asphalt surface, patch places where the road's foundation has decayed, and lay new asphalt.

Meanwhile, an IDOT maintenance crew last week widened the ditch along the east side of Illinois 72 between Wilson Nurseries and Illinois 47 to improve drainage.

The Illinois 72 and Illinois 47 repaving had been on IDOT's list of work for 2009-20013 but was moved up to this summer, Valente said, when "we saw that because the winter was very damaging, the deterioration of some of these roads was increasing at an exponential pace."