Kennedy Expressway drivers to and from Chicago can expect heavy congestion to continue longer than planned as the Illinois Department of Transportation says its scheduled timeline of opening the express lanes has been "pushed back" a month.
IDOT announced the update in a press briefing Tuesday. Officials originally said both directions of the reversible express lanes -- which have been closed for nine months -- were on track to reopen near the 2024 Thanksgiving holiday. When pressed for an update in October, IDOT said the express lanes were on schedule to open in "late fall."
As of Tuesday, Dec. 17 -- five days until the start of Winter -- the express lanes remained closed, with testing ongoing.
According to IDOT, both directions of the Kennedy Express Lanes are scheduled to open "the week of Jan. 13" of 2025. Jan. 2 will initiate the start rounds of "final testing" of the computer system, officials said.
IDOT said "software integration" led to the delay, adding that construction was "more complex" due to the computers needed to run the gate system that controls the express lanes, known as the Reversible Lane Access Control, or REVLAC.
Officials stressed that work is continuing behind the scenes, and acknowledged it may be frustrating for drivers to not see active crews.
“The improvements are highly technical and require time and effort behind the scenes, but they will result in a much safer and reliable system for the millions of people who rely on the Kennedy," Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman said in a release. "We look forward to opening the express lanes as safely and expeditiously as possible.”
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"In addition to rehabilitating the bridges, the entire Reversible Lane Access Control (REVLAC) system is being rehabilitated along the reversible express lanes," a spokesperson for IDOT told NBC Chicago in a previous statement. "The REVLAC system controls the gates and changes the direction of traffic in the reversible lanes. The work includes installing 120 gates, controls (local and remote), cameras, electrical components, fiber optic cables and terminal blocks along the 7.5 miles. Additionally, new overhead sign structures and signs were installed. While the pavement in the express lanes is drivable their use is extremely limited. The REVLAC work is ongoing, and the system currently is not functional."
IDOT's massive, three-phase construction project on the Kennedy Expressway began early in 2023, with inbound local lanes closed, along with outbound express lanes. That work wrapped in December.
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Phase two of the project -- with the express lanes closed in both directions from the Edens Junction to Ohio street -- began in March.
The final phase of the project is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2025, with the outbound side of the roadway getting the finishing touches, and inbound express lanes closing.
"As we’ve noted for past couple of years, the overall Kennedy rehabilitation project is taking place over three construction seasons – which means the work will begin each year, weather permitting, in early spring and completed in late fall," a statement from IDOT previously said.
