Chicago commuters beware — your case of the Mondays is about to get a whole lot worse.
Construction will begin on the Kennedy Expressway on Monday where the expressway connects with the Edens Expressway all the way down to Ohio Street.
Between these points, the two inbound left lanes of the Kennedy will be closed until July. Then, the two right lanes will close until construction season ends in the fall.
The main impacts won’t be felt until Tuesday, said Maria Castaneda, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Each day starting Monday, about a mile and a half to two miles of road will be blocked off between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Drivers should be ready for major delays.
“Every day when you’re driving, you’re going to notice a change,” Castaneda said. “You’re going to notice that your available lanes are going to be less and less as we go each stage.”
IDOT recommends that those who work downtown try catching public transit.
Castaneda expects many will have to wake up a lot earlier to accommodate longer commutes.
“In the morning, definitely give yourself much more time,” Castaneda said. “Clearly, there’s going to be people who cannot change their schedule no matter what. But if you can vary your times when you commute in and out, we’re asking you to do that.”
Once the lanes are closed, IDOT will demolish and replace bridges at 23 points along the expressway. It takes about a week to take down a bridge and five weeks to build a new one.
While the two inbound lanes of the Kennedy are closed, the two reversible lanes will be inbound-only.
Ramps and exits won’t be affected for now, Castaneda said. However, drivers pulling onto the express lane in the closed area won’t be able to exit until Armitage Avenue.
With so much of the Kennedy closed, traffic is expected to back up onto the Dan Ryan and Edens Expressways.
So what alternate routes can drivers take? IDOT can’t officially recommend that people divert into city streets, Castaneda said.
She expects River North to become particularly crowded during construction, though, with extra traffic on West Ontario Street and Ohio Street.
“Some of the bigger mainlining roads that feed into the expressway are also, I’m sure, going to get backed up,” Castaneda said.
Upwards of 275,000 vehicles cross the expressway every day. It’s the main artery through the city straight to O’Hare.
Along with bridge repairs, the $150 million project will include updates to signage, painting and reversible lanes. Two more stages of construction will start in spring 2024 and 2025.
