I-80 construction set to begin, expect major traffic impact

CHICAGO - If you think Chicago's northern suburbs have it bad on the Kennedy Expressway, get ready if you have to travel to the southwest suburbs.

The next phase of construction on Interstate 80 is about to begin.

April 1st will be the day when the I-80 project will roll out. Twelve of sixteen miles will be upgraded and that means some major traffic impacts.

The IDOT project will cost more than one billion dollars. It's more than 50 years old, and the rebuild stretches from Ridge Road in Minooka to US Route 30 in New Lenox. It includes more than 30 bridges.

The goal is to make it safer and smoother for the 80,000 vehicles per day. Twenty-five percent of those are trucks.

"There's been a lot of coordination with the emergency responders in the area so that they know what to expect, get their response route set, and they can do their emergency services as effectively as possible. With work zones in place, there'll also be digital signage and traffic monitoring, along with CCTV surveillance cameras to help IDOT monitor traffic patterns and then get messages out to the motoring public so they can watch for slow or stop traffic ahead, seek alternate routes, stuff like that, so they can better plan their routes and their trips," said Matt Daeda, construction manager with Lochner.

The expected completion date for the whole project is sometime in 2029.