Ramp Work Continues This Week on I-294

Submitted by the Illinois Tollway press release

The Illinois Tollway is scheduled to continue ramp repairs on the interchanges that connect the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) to I-290/Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), 75th Street and Roosevelt Road.

Overnight and weekend-long ramp closures will be needed to complete the repairs and electronic message signs and detours will be put in place to alert drivers.

Weather permitting, work at all three interchanges is scheduled over the next two weeks.

I-290/I-88 Interchange

This week, three overnight closures are scheduled to begin on the ramp carrying westbound I-290/I-88 traffic to southbound I-294 and electronic message signs will be put in place in advance to alert drivers. Beginning at 9 p.m. each night, the ramp will be closed and a detour will be put in place.

The detour will route traffic onto westbound Roosevelt Road and to the York Road Interchange where drivers will then be directed back onto eastbound Roosevelt Road and then onto southbound I-294. The ramp will be reopened by 5 a.m. the following morning in advance of the morning commute.

There will be no work on these ramps over the Labor Day weekend.

Roosevelt Road Interchange

During the week of September 1, a single night closure will be scheduled on the ramp carrying northbound I-294 traffic to eastbound Roosevelt Road.

Electronic message signs will be put in place in advance to alert drivers and a detour will be put in place directing traffic onto eastbound I-290 and then exit at southbound Mannheim Road to reach Roosevelt Road.

Repairs to the ramp carrying eastbound Roosevelt Road traffic to southbound I-294 will require three nights of closures with a detour this fall.

75th Street Interchange

During the week of September 1, a single night closure will be scheduled on the ramp carrying 75th Street traffic to northbound I-294.

Electronic message signs will be put in place in advance to alert drivers and a detour will be put in place directing traffic on 75th Street to Gilbert Road and then north to Joliet Road before merging onto northbound I-294.

This will complete the work at the 75th Street Interchange. All four ramps were repaired this year.

The temporary, full closures of ramps on the Tri-State Tollway interchanges are necessary to complete repairs because the ramps are not wide enough to safely accommodate a work zone while maintaining traffic.

In addition, the weekend closures are needed to remove the old pavement and provide time for the new concrete to set and cure properly. Repair work will include concrete patching and shoulder repairs to extend the life of the ramps and provide safe and convenient travel for Tollway customers.

The ramp repairs are being coordinated with the Illinois Department of Transportation and Cook and DuPage counties, as well as local municipalities and fire and police departments. Up to 21,900 vehicles a day use the ramps scheduled for improvements this year.

The ramp work on I-294 is part of the 15-year, $12 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future.