Bridge out ahead

IDOT ADDRESSES CONCERNS ON FOUR-MONTH RESURFACING PROJECTAND DETOUR ROUTES DURING A LOCKPORT CITY COUNCIL MEETING.

LOCKPORT -- The Illinois 7 high bridge soon will close for almost four months, and the state has established detour routes for motorists.

Workers will perform a $1.9 million resurfacing project on the structure, also known as the Ninth Street bridge, which spans the Des Plaines River and Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal.

Weather permitting, the bridge will be closed to traffic from May 5 to Aug. 31, said Cheiko High, a project manager for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

A truck route has been established north of Lockport, but nontruck traffic will be rerouted southward, through downtown Joliet.

From Lockport, the truck detour will send drivers north on Illinois 171, west on 135th Street, and south on Illinois 53.

The Joliet detour applies to vehicles under 13-feet, 4-inches high. This is because of several viaducts along the route.

Traffic that normally would head east on the bridge -- toward downtown Lockport -- instead will be detoured south on Illinois 53, and then east across Joliet's Ruby Street bridge.

Traffic then would proceed south on Ottawa Street, and then east on Jefferson Street toward Collins Street.

Finally, motorists would make a left on Collins and head back northward, as Collins Street becomes Illinois 171 and leads into downtown Lockport.

There is a similar detour for motorists who normally cross the bridge westward from downtown Lockport.

They would be rerouted south on Illinois 171 and Collins Street. However, once in Joliet, they would be directed west on Cass Street, north on Scott Street and then west over the Ruby Street bridge to Illinois 53.

High and her colleagues gave a detailed presentation at Wednesday's Lockport City Council meeting.

She described the resurfacing work and addressed concerns about the project.

"Deck patching and a new overlay will be applied to the bridge," High said. "You may ask yourself, 'Why can't the bridge stay open while the work is being done?' The answer to your question is IDOT previously did so, and as a result it was difficult for the overlay to bind to its highest potential because of the constant vibration of cars traveling the bridge as work was being done."

For updates on the project, visit www.dot.il.gov/il_7_bridge_ _lockport.htm.