Motorists, rejoice: A years-long, massive roadwork project to reconstruct the "nightmare" Jane Byrne Interchange -- one of Chicago's busiest and most congested bottlenecks -- is nearly compete, state officials said Wednesday.
"Today, I’m proud to announce the reconstruction of the Jane Byrne Interchange is finally completed,” said Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker Wednesday at a ribbon cutting ceremony, announcing the update. "For almost a decade, Illinois’ first-rate workforce worked day in and day out to entirely reconstruct this massive project. And in the last few years, IDOT accelerated and streamlined the construction process to get this done."
However, not all the lanes and ramps are open just yet.
According to officials, more than 400,000 motorists travel through the Jane Byrne Interchange, which connects three expressways: the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94) to the south, the Kennedy Expressway to the north (I-90/94), the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) to the west along with Ida B. Wells Drive to the east.
Construction to improve and rebuild bridges, retaining walls, ramps and more began in 2013 and was expected to be completed in 2018. However, a "variety of factors" along with a ballooning budget and many complications brought the project traffic, congestion and a years-long delay.
According to reporting from the Chicago Sun-Times, the 35-project undertaking was initially slated to cost $535 million. However, nearly 10 years and a final total of $806.4 million later, a release says, construction is just about wrapped up.
The finished product is expected to result in a 50% reduction in motorist delays, with crashes predicted to decrease by 25%, the release says. It's also predicted to increase driver safety and improve the flow of traffic.
According to officials, new changes include two northbound Kennedy entrance ramps from Adams to Jackson Streets, as well as wider ramps from eastbound I-290 onto the Kennedy and Dan Ryan Expressway, additional lanes in each direction to the mainline Kennedy on the Dan Ryan, walkways and more.
While much of interchange is now open, the "final pieces of the project will conclude this week, weather permitting," the release says.
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Here's what's slated to open this week:
- A second lane to the ramps connecting the inbound Eisenhower to the outbound Kennedy and Dan Ryan
- Ramps connected Jackson Boulevard and Adams Street to the outbound Kennedy
- A fourth lane on the Dan Ryan and Kennedy lanes through the interchange.
Additionally, "motorists should still expect occasional, temporary lane closures in the coming weeks to complete miscellaneous electrical work and other punch list items," officials say.
