Heading out on the roads this summer? Here's what you need to know about big construction projects
Summer is finally here, which means that it's a peak time for travel, whether it be by plane, train, automobile or even boat.
With that peak time for travel also comes a peak time for construction work across the state of Illinois and beyond, with crews out on the roadways working to make better highways and byways for the future, in spite of some present pain for drivers.
Here's a look at what to expect from road projects in the Springfield area for the summer and remainder of 2023:
State road projects
Of primary note for the Illinois Department of Transportation this summer will be the continued work on the city's rail corridor as part of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project. The emphasis this year is on the 10th Street corridor at Madison and Jefferson streets, a $68.3 million project that kicked off in April.
More: Moredock goes up for approval as Corporation Counsel before full city council
Work there is focused on double-tracking the corridor – laying down each end of the two-way track – and constructing underpasses beneath the tracks. Construction is slated to continue into 2024, with completion slated for later that year.
IDOT has also begun a $2.4 million upgrade of Peoria Road from Sangamon Avenue at the south end to Ardmore Avenue at the north end. The agency is looking to improve lighting and sidewalks in the area, along with new pavement markings and upgraded curbs and gutters. Work began in May with completion slated for late fall.
The agency also has ample patching, resurfacing and painting work on many local roadways, beginning with resurfacing on Interstate 55 between the Clear Lake Avenue and Sangamon Avenue interchanges. Work on the $2.4 million project will begin sometime late this summer and should be completed by the fall.
Resurfacing and patching is also in the works for Illinois 54 – a portion of Sangamon Avenue – from I-55 to Gatlin Drive and Camp Butler Road in the same area from Illinois 54 to Colt Road. Much like the work on I-55, this $1.6 million project will begin work this summer with a target completion date scheduled for the fall.
A much larger project is in the works for Sixth Street beginning in the fall, with resurfacing and parking improvements being conducted alongside the replacement of traffic signals on Ash Street. Work should be completed on the nearly $4 million project in the fall of 2024.
IDOT is also undertaking some painting work of the Interstate 72 bridge over the Sangamon River near Riverton. Work began in May with completion of the $1 million project being slated for late fall.
Bridge repairs are also being planned for Veterans Parkway – Illinois 4 being the official term – over the railroad just north of I-72. A smaller project clocking in at $200,000, work should begin this fall.
Another state bridge project is slated for Illinois 29 at the South Fork of the Sangamon River between Springfield and Rochester. Deck repairs are slated to begin this summer, with completion of the $250,000 project being set for this fall.
County road projects
The Sangamon County Highway Department has put their focus on one significant project this year – a $36.3 million project to perform grade separation on the high-speed rail tracks at the intersection of Woodside and Iron Bridge roads south of Springfield.
Sangamon County Engineer Brian Davis said that the intent of the project is to turn Iron Bridge Road into an overpass across the rail tracks and Woodside Road into an underpass.
"It will be two new bridges, two new structures built as a result of that," Davis said. "(There's) a structure to carry the Union Pacific over Woodside Road that would go under and a bridge carrying Iron Bridge Road up and over the railroad."
Work on the project is slated to begin in September, with completion slated for the summer of 2026.
The county is also looking to do some repaving work along Seventh Street in Riverton from Lincoln Street at the south end to Illinois 54 at the north end. Davis said that work should be underway on the $1 million project sometime between late August and mid-September, with completion in the fall.
The county had begun bridge improvements on the Irwin Bridge Road in Gardner Township about a mile east of Salisbury. However, Davis noted that the $1.3 million project was on hold due to issues acquiring steel for the new bridge. No timetable has been set for completion.
Three other bridge replacements are in the works for the county, but remain in the planning stages and have not gone out for bid. In Williams Township, plans are underway to replace a wood-deck structure along Bock Road over a tributary to Wolf Creek east of Williamsville. Bidding should be completed by July.
The bridge along West Divernon Road in Auburn is also slated for replacement, with the bridge crossing over Sugar Creek east of Edgewood Golf Club. A bid should be heading out in August.
Out in Cotton Hill Township, the county also has plans to replace the bridge carrying Cascade Road over the South Fork of the Sangamon River, north of Sangchris Lake. Bidding will begin in September.
A pavement project along Cardinal Hill Road from an area south of New City Road to the county line is also being proposed, with bidding slated to go out in September.
Davis said that in order to protect the bidding process, they weren't going to reveal the costs of the unbidded projects as of now.
City projects
Much of the city's attention is focused on the continued rail improvements, with construction ongoing on Usable Segment III along the 10th Street corridor.
More: Zoned in: City's zone managers will look for 'anything and everything' on streets
Newly-appointed city public works director Dave Fuchs said that the focus of the work at Madison and Jefferson Street is on the underpasses set to be implemented, similar to the kinds already built in earlier parts of the project along Ash and Carpenter Streets.
"The idea is that the trains can go unimpeded and traffic (underneath) can get through," Fuchs said.
Continuing to deal with the traffic issue is one of the reasons why Washington Street is also closed as well between 9th and 11th Streets, although an underpass isn't slated to be built along that street. Washington should reopen later in 2023.
The city is also planning to close Capitol Avenue for at least seven days this summer to finish up some pavement and track work along the corridor.
Work will also get underway later this summer on Usable Segment V along Cook Street and South Grand Avenue. Roads are slated to be shut down for ten days on each road in order to remove the older bridges that cover the current rail line. Once removed, a new set of underpasses similar to what is currently being built in the 9th-11th Street area will be installed as part of a $24 million project.
The city will also begin work on the North Grand Avenue underpass as part of Usable Segment VI in 2024.
Outside of the rail corridor, the city is currently making major upgrades along Stanford Avenue south of Bunn Golf Course. Work is underway on smoothing out the heavily-used road and installing a new storm sewer, new curbs and gutters, a new sidewalk on the south end of the road and a multi-use path on the north end. Fuchs said that the need for the project came about as the result of the rough shape of the road, making it difficult to maintain without major work.
"There was a very high crown – there were almost ditches," Fuchs said. "The drainage was bad and there's always been a lot of traffic up there. It was an uneven road, it wasn't in good shape and it was hard to keep repaired."
Work on the $7.6 million project is slated to be completed in July 2024.
The city also is planning to spend $4.6 million in Rebuild Illinois funds to modernize traffic signals in the downtown area. Both 4th Street between South Grand Avenue and Dodge Street and Adams Street from 6th Street to 9th Street are slated to be converted from one-way traffic to two-way traffic, with signals slated to be removed at the intersections of Monroe and Spring Streets, Monroe and 8th Streets and Enos Avenue and 9th Street, along with a pedestrian signal across College Street near the Stratton Building.
The city will also modernize its management of those signals by installing updated signal controllers in order to centralize the system. Some 75 intersections in total will be impacted by the changes, which Fuchs said was necessary due to the age of the current system.
"They're old and need to be replaced," Fuchs said. "Rebuild Illinois funds are available (for the project) so the city has decided to take advantage of them."
The city is currently making plans for two million-dollar bridge projects, with work continuing on the Churchill Road bridge. Pouring will begin sometime this week on the new deck, with the $1.2 million project being slated for completion in September.
Work will begin this summer on a $2.35 million project to upgrade the 8th Street bridge over Spring Creek north of Veterans Parkway near the Illinois State Fairgrounds. At the present moment, utility relocations are being conducted in the area, with construction to begin shortly thereafter. Fuchs said that there wasn't any clarity on whether the project would be conducted during the Illinois State Fair in August, as the bridge is used by many people as a way to reach the fairgrounds.
Fuchs said that the city had completed their overlay along Bruns Lane, with the installation of a "road diet" being next up on the priority list between North Grand Avenue and Veterans Parkway. Pavement markings to denote the new traffic patterns are scheduled to be installed later this week. A similar project is also in the works for MacArthur Boulevard at Williams Boulevard near Washington Park, with a pedestrian refuge island also being installed.
The city also has their usual patching and sidewalk repairs up this summer, along with new overlays along 6th Street between Myrtle Street and South Grand Avenue, 11th Street between Ash Street and South Grand Avenue and Laurel Street from Leland Grove to MacArthur Boulevard. Leveling work is also slated along Idlewild Lane to join four other completed projects done earlier this year.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Here's what you need to know about this summer's big construction projects
