Reconstruction Work Begins on the Jane Byrne Interchange

Deborah Bayliss | As of Thursday, March 19, 2015

The mild March weather permitted and as of March 10, work on the $475 million Jane Byrne Interchange reconstruction project to get underway. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced ramp closures for construction of the new flyover bridge connecting the Dan Ryan Expressway (Interstate 90/94) to the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290) began March 10.

The entire project will require several lane and ramp closures until its expected completion date in summer of 2016.

The following closures and detours are in effect:

· The ramp from Roosevelt Road to I-290/Congress Parkway is closed. Detour routes will be posted. Motorists will be directed to continue east on Roosevelt Road to connect with Congress Parkway via Jefferson, Harrison and Wells streets. To connect with the outbound Eisenhower, motorists will be directed to continue west on Roosevelt Road and utilize Ashland Avenue and Van Buren Street.

· The ramp from Taylor Street to the inbound Dan Ryan (outbound Kennedy) is closed. A detour route is posted, directing motorists to use Taylor Street to Jefferson Street and re-enter the expressway at the Adams Street entrance ramp.

· The ramp from the inbound Dan Ryan to inbound Congress Parkway is closed. A detour route is posted, directing motorists to exit on Roosevelt Road to access Congress Parkway via Jefferson, Harrison and Wells streets.

· The inbound and outbound Stevenson Expressway (Interstate 55) ramps to the Dan Ryan will be reduced from two lanes to one lane.

· The right lane of the inbound Dan Ryan from the Stevenson to Roosevelt Road is closed.

· The ramp from the inbound Dan Ryan to the outbound Eisenhower will remain open, but shifted to a temporary roadway. The four lanes from Roosevelt Road to Van Buren Street are narrowed.

The flyover will replace the existing single-lane ramp with a two-lane bridge that begins just south of Roosevelt Road, arching over Harrison Street, the entire Jane Byrne Interchange and Halsted Street, before connecting to the outbound Eisenhower near Morgan Street.

The new ramp will stretch about one mile in length. Once completed, the flyover is expected to improve traffic flow and safety for the approximately 400,000 motorists that drive through the interchange each day.

Later this year, IDOT will schedule installation of the flyover’s beams over four weekends in coordination with the City of Chicago.

For more information, including detours, updates and a live, streaming high-resolution view of the work zone, visit www.CircleInterchange.org.

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