Work is set to commence this Monday on the second phase of the Kennedy Expressway renovations on the North Side. The massive project was announced last year, with phase one kicking off last spring and being fully completed in December. The project is being led by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and will span into late next year.
Overall the Kennedy stretched 18-miles from O’Hare International Airport to downtown, making it the busiest roadway in the Midwest with over 250,000 daily riders having been renovated in 1994 last. The three-phase renovation has been focussing on a seven-mile stretch of the highway between W Ohio Street to the south and W Lawrence Avenue to the north.
Construction plan of the Kennedy via IDOT
In-order to mitigate effects on traffic, construction has been split to allow the use of the express lanes as overflow while lanes are closed. Work includes upgrades to its lighting, signage, bridges, pavements, and paints according to IDOT.
Phase One consisted of the inbound lanes, closing two-lanes at a time with the express lanes permanently running in this direction to offset the closures.
Phase Two will commence Monday and run through the fall, focusing on the express lanes themselves and the rehab of its REVersible Lane And Control (REVLAC) System. As well as repairs to Hubbard’s Cave which will require additional lane closures, according to NBC.
Phase Three will run through the same period of time in 2025, mirroring the first phase with work focusing on the outbound lanes while using the express lanes to offset traffic.
Current view of the Kennedy via IDOT
The overall project has a budget of $150 million, with over ten-miles of roadways not included in this renovation. To further offset the loss of capacity during the work both Metra and the CTA ran additional trains, though the Blue Line still saw lower frequencies from its peak and its increase came at the cost of other lines.
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I like to imagine a Chicago where we don’t spend more money on highways and invest it into making our public transit the absolute cleanest, safest and fastest way of getting around Chicago. We probably wouldn’t even need express lanes because effective mass transit is truly the most effective way of reducing traffic congestion.
Not meaning to be too cynical, but then I remember Chicago is a great city stuck in a car-brained United States.
Keep dreaming….
Highways and the cars that use them are needed and aren’t going anywhere. While I agree that we should invest in transit and try not to encourage more car use, we need to at least maintain the infrastructure that exists
Maintaining the infrastructure that exists has shackled us (and many other cities/towns in America) with debt we cannot afford. If we wanted to keep it solvent, our only option is to heavily densify, which would cause tons of traffic, meaning we may as well invest in public transit and downsize vehicular infrastructure as we can.
Need to ask cause I cannot find it searching. Did the inbound lanes loose one lane after last year? There is now a left two lane merge that I do not recall ever being there. Will we get it back?
Hey Steve, I don’t believe so, but they may be doing some realignment for the next phases