Re: I-355 Open by Thanksgiving ??? Not So Much.....
- From: Rick Powell <rkpowell@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 30 May 2007 20:46:42 -0700
On May 30, 5:46 pm, JG <jgrov...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"After a dozen years of planning, with a couple hurdles along the way,
the south extension of I-355 is finally taking shape.
It is a ribbon on concrete extending 12 miles and winding over mostly
rural Will County. After years of moving earth, erecting 10-foot beams
and laying down pavement, the south extension of the North/South
Tollway is six months away from opening.
"People who drive through this corridor or past it will begin seeing
changes on a daily basis," said senior project manager Tom Valaitis.
"We're accomplishing about $2-million dollars worth of work every
single day we're out here."
The new I-355 corridor will run through 13 suburbs from the I-55
interchange in Bolingbrook / Woodridge, to I-80 in New Lenox. There
will be 4 interchanges: 127th street, Archer Avenue, 159th and U.S.
Route 6.
Construction began in 2004 with the difficult task of hauling more
than 10-million cubic yards of dirt. More recently, crews have focused
on building the 28 bridges that will cross the Tollway.
At 1.3 miles, the Des Plaines River Valley Bridge is the longest in
the Tollway system. It is also the second longest bridge in the state.
Along with the Des Plaines River, it crosses the I & M canal, the
Sanitary & Ship canal, several railroad lines and some environmentally
sensitive areas.
This valley is home to several endangered species," Valaitis said.
"There's been a lot of effort by the Tollway to protect not only
endangered species but also the wetlands on the corridor."
Officials said building a new road is much easier than rebuilding an
existing one because there is no traffic to work around. That's why
the connection at I-55 has been one of the biggest headaches of the
project. New pavement will now take shape very quickly as it will take
less than a month to lay the rock, asphalt and concrete that will
become the new driving surface.
There will be one main toll plaza near 167th which will cost $1 for I-
pass users and $2 for cash travelers.
If everything goes as planned, the new $730-million dollar toll road
will be open by Thanksgiving this year."
Thats a BIG IF, from the looks of it this weekend ISTHA will need
another construction season to finish it...many mainline sections only
gravel base, if that, Des Plaines bridge half erected and many
interchanges still dirt...JG
I have an ex-IDOT buddy who is working on the Des Plaines bridge.
The other big bridge project in IL - the re-decking of the 7000 foot
I-39 Illinois River bridge - is proceeding at an amazing clip. If the
Des Plaines project goes like this one, it will be done this year.
You can easily pave a mile of concrete freeway mainline in a day with
modern paving equipment if you have a batch plant set up at the
jobsite and you are running 2 crews a day. And this is just a 12 mile
job.
I haven't seen the ISTHA contracts, but if there's a payment incentive
for finishing ahead of time, I'll bet the contractors don't leave much
time or money on the table. If the mainline is complete and opened,
but not all the interchanges are functioning, the 355 south would
still get a fair amount of traffic. Good enough to proclaim success
for opening before the end of 2007, I'd say.
RP
.
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