Crews Ahead of Schedule on Kennedy Repairs
By BJ LUTZ
Updated 6:00 AM CST, Thu, Oct 15, 2009
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Don't sweat the commute. The Kennedy Expressway is all-systems-go.
Crews worked through the night to repair a construction nightmare near Adams street and managed to complete the job just before 4:30 a.m.
"It will be as as though nothing was ever wrong,'' Marisa Kollias, an IDOT spokeswoman, told the Chicago Tribune shortly before construction equipment was pulled and cars were allowed to pass over the patched concrete.
The Illinois Dept. of Transportation had closed all ramps from the eastbound Eisenhower (I-290) and westbound Congress Parkway onto the westbound Kennedy (I-90/94), according to an IDOT spokeswoman, which reduced the expressway to a one-lane road. The northbound Taylor Street ramp was also closed.
Kollias called it a pavement "blow up" and said it is major problem expected to require a longterm repair.
Workers from Lorig Construction were installing concrete in a freight tunnel underneath the northbound Kennedy around Adams when something happened -- it’s not clear whether it was from the concrete or the equipment -- to cause a big buckle in one of the lanes of the expressway, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The pavement problem was originally affecting the two right lanes from Adams to the Circle Interchange, and traffic was backing up as far as the inbound Dan Ryan Expy. at 59th Street, according to Illinois State Police.
No accidents have been reported as a result of the bad pavement or the backup, an ISP Chicago District trooper said.
Alternate Routes:
Motorists should take the tollways, Damen Avenue or Ogden Avenue for alternate routes. On Thursday morning, drivers who use the Northbound Dan Ryan should consider taking Stony Island and Lake Shore Drive, NBC Chicago's Matt Rodewald suggested. Drivers heading inbound on the Eisenhower and the Stevenson should look for alternates or stay to the far left lane when approaching the Dan Ryan.
Kollias acknowledged the recommendation to avoid all downtown expressways for another day was a "sweeping advisory," one the agency had not made in her memory before, but "it is a very big buckle," she said.
Ramp Closures:
· NB Taylor Street
· WB Congress to NB Kennedy
· Eisenhower EB to NB
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View Kennedy Expressway "Blow Up" in a larger map
From 780 WBBM:
Copyright SunTimes / NBC Chicago
First Published: Oct 14, 2009 3:16 PM CST
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