Work remains on schedule for I-355 extension
With 48 percent of the construction work complete, the south extension of Interstate 355 is within budget and on schedule for its proposed opening in November, according to Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials.
The Homer Glen Village Board viewed a presentation last week by Beth Rahe of V3 Cos., the Woodridge-based civil engineering firm that is the management consultant for the extension, and Rocko Zucchero of the tollway authority.
The project consists of a 12.5-mile, three-lane extension of I-355 from its current termination at Interstate 55 in Bolingbrook to Interstate 80 on the western edge of Homer Glen.
The extension will run under Cedar Road, Route 6, Bruce Road, 167th Street, Gougar Road, 163rd Street, 159th Street, 127th Street, 151st Street, 143rd Street and 171st Street/Archer Avenue. Interchanges are planned at I-55, 127th Street, 143rd Street, 159th Street, Route 6 and I-80.
The project will also will run over 135th Street and Internationale Parkway and will include a mile-long, six-lane bridge over the Des Plaines River Valley.
Much of the extension work last year involved bridge and interchange construction, according to Rahe.
"Even though this was the third-rainiest season on record for the area, we are still on schedule because most of the work is bridge work," she said.
Bridge construction began at Gougar Road and 163rd Street in March 2006, which required a detour at 163rd until late in the year. 163rd Street is now open to traffic, but a detour at Gougar Road remains in place until later this year.
The new bridge at Bruce Road over the path of the extension is now open to traffic. The runaround constructed parallel to Bruce Road for temporary use is now being dismantled. Runarounds remain in place until mid- to late 2007 at Route 6, Cedar Road, Archer Avenue and 127th, 143rd, 151st and 167th streets.
Beam erection continues at the I-55 and I-80 interchanges, as well as for construction of the Des Plaines River Valley Bridge, which will span the I&M Canal, the Sanitary & Ship Canal, several railroad lines and the Des Plaines River.
The project also includes about 2.5 square miles of noise abatement walls at six locations for developments that were platted before April 1999, when the extension project became public knowledge.
The noise-abatement walls will be erected mostly along I-55 north of 135th Street on the east side, north of 163rd Street on the east and along I-80.
Zucchero said there are other developments near the extension that were platted after the date of public knowledge. In these cases, he said, it is up to the communities to provide noise-abatement measures through local funding, such as bonds, escrow accounts or impact fees to developers.
"We strongly recommend not building new developments adjacent to the tollway," said Zucchero, "because it is an intrastate highway, and it does create noise. As your village grows, we would ask you to remember that and plan accordingly."
In other business, Trustee Dale Vogelsanger updated the board about improvements to the intersection of 143rd Street and Parker Road, which is now a four-way stop. He said Will County, Homer Township and the village of Homer Glen will share the funding for a temporary signal and left-turn lanes in all directions at that intersection, which is expected to see increased traffic because of the county's plan to upgrade the nearby intersection of 143rd and Golden Oak Drive.
"As I-355 nears completion, everyone is scrambling to get their local roads ready to handle the increased traffic," Vogelsanger said of the project. "We're hoping to get this done by October of next year and beat the opening of 355."
