3 days ago
Kennedy Expressway construction is a month ahead of schedule
Anyone who deals with bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Kennedy Expressway as part of the daily commute is in for some good news.
The Kennedy Construction Project just so happens to be a full month ahead of schedule. It is far from complete, but drivers can expect some changes.
Effective Sunday, June 1, traffic leaving downtown Chicago and heading northwest will be able to use both the express and local lanes to continue between Addison Street and the Kennedy-Edens junction at Montrose Avenue to get to O'Hare International Airport.
Since the third and final phase of the Kennedy Construction Project began in March, drivers in the express lanes have not been able to exit onto I-90 toward O'Hare, and have been forced to follow the Edens, or I-94, to Foster Avenue.
However, the preparation for this change will cause some annoyances betwixt 11 p.m. Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday. The Illinois Department of Transportation said effective at 11 p.m. Saturday, May 31, the express lanes will close altogether.
An hour later at midnight Sunday morning, the outbound Kennedy will be reduced to one lane between Addison Street and Montrose Avenue, and intermittent ramp closures will also take place along that stretch.
These closures will end at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 1, when the new configuration will be in place.
In the new traffic configuration, the outbound lanes will shift slightly to the left on the new pavement between Addison Street and Montrose Avenue, and the reversible lanes will remain open in the outbound direction — with two mainline outbound lanes closed at a time. The reversible mid-gate entrances and exits will stay closed, IDOT said.
This change, again, is happening a month ahead of schedule. But the whole project still isn't set to be over until Thanksgiving.
IDOT issued a reminder about closures planned for next month:
On Thursday, June 5, the Ontario Street and Division Street on-ramps to the outbound Kennedy will close for about two weeks.
On Monday, June 9, the outbound Kennedy off-ramps to North and Fullerton avenues will close for about two weeks.
Currently, the Ogden Avenue on-ramp to the outbound Kennedy is closed, the outbound Kennedy off-ramp to Ohio Street, and the Armitage Avenue on-ramp to the outbound Kennedy are all closed. They are all expected to reopen the week of June 9.
