After nine years of construction and hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns, the massive rebuild of the Jane Byrne Interchange that connects major expressways near downtown Chicago is set to be substantially complete in the coming days.
The last of the major exit ramp closures are set to reopen as soon as Friday, or shortly thereafter depending on the weather, representatives from the Illinois Department of Transportation said. After that, a handful of small items, including painting, landscaping, work on lighting and some paving, will continue through winter and spring, but IDOT does not anticipate they will have a major effect on daytime traffic.
IDOT expects the finished project to reduce traffic delays by half, said program development engineer John Baczek. The lower congestion is estimated to mean $180 million annually in savings from increased productivity, and a roughly one-third reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
