Route 47 Completion Date Pushed To Next Spring

The Route 47 reconstruction and widening project that has created traffic snarls for two summers won’t be fully completed by October, Illinois Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday.

IDOT extended contracts for the road project from October 2010 to June 2012, said Tom Costello, IDOT's resident engineer who heads the project.

“We did extend the contract due to some utility conflicts that caused delays and there was a labor strike that caused some delays for us,” Costello said.

Last summer’s construction labor strike set the project back by several weeks coupled with delays in getting utilities to relocate things like water mains and electric lines along the route, he said.

The $23.8 million project expands 2.5 miles on Route 47 from Kreutzer to Reed Roads, Costello said. The northbound lanes have been completed but about a half-mile in the southbound lanes remain to be paved, he said.

“We are still very hopeful we can complete all the pavement (work) this year and possibly get all the traffic on pavement this year,” he said.

Crews are working at a good pace so reaching that goal depends on the weather, Costello said. IDOT needs good weather through September and October. An early frost would delay getting pavement down until next spring.

“You never know how the weather will treat you in September or October. You can have a little of rain or a stretch of dry weather. Temperatures is another (factor),” he said.

The news didn’t come as a surprise to Rachel Kissane, a bartender at . The bar is located on Route 47, just around the corner from Main Street.

She drives to work through the construction zone and has not seen much progress. Sammy’s employees had heard the October date was up in the air, she said.

“They have been taking their sweet time with the road and it’s been affecting businesses all over here,” Kissane said. “I guarantee they are not going to be finished (with the southbound lanes) by October, just by the looks of it.”

Sammy’s, like other businesses along the Route 47 construction route, is just hanging in there, she said.