Four 30-minute off-peak closures of 135th Street Bridge scheduled

For the next few weeks, there will be four, 30-minute off-peak closures daily of the 135th Street Bridge over the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, just west of New Avenue, in order to move oversized vehicles carrying pre-cast, concrete girders for the Interstate 355 Extension Project.

Over the next five to six weeks, 154 concrete girders will be moved into the construction zone at New Avenue for construction of the Des Plaines River Valley Bridge, from south of New Avenue to north of Bluff Road. The beams range in length from 140 to 170 feet and will be transported two at a time, four times a day.

Because each truck load approaches the weight load for the 135th Street Bridge, restrictions are required. When any part of the truck is on the bridge, no other vehicles may be on the bridge.

The trucks will be accompanied by a wide load escort and a State Police trooper. To minimize the impact to local traffic, the hours for beam delivery are limited to off-peak times when traffic is lighter, after the morning rush hour and before the evening rush hour. Four full closures are scheduled per day during the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The beams are being delivered from multiple locations. From Interstate 80, the beams will be moved north on Larkin Avenue to Renwick Road, east on Renwick to Route 53, north on Route 53, east on 135th Street and across the Sanitary & Ship Canal Bridge, then north on New Avenue to the I-355 South Extension work site.

While the only location where traffic will be stopped is on 135th Street over the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, traffic is expected to move slowly through the delivery route for safety reasons. Drivers using 135th Street during the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. can expect delays and should plan accordingly, tollway officials said.

The work is part of the 12.5-mile, three-lane extension of I-355 from I-55 in Bolingbrook to I-80 in New Lenox. The extension should be completed by the end of 2007.

As part of the new roadway project, the pre-cast concrete beams being transported will be used in the construction of the Des Plaines River Valley Bridge, a 1.3-mile bridge that will span from south of New Avenue to north of Bluff Road. At its highest point, the bridge will be 90 feet above the valley.