Joliet Keeps P.T. Ferro Busy During Economic Lull

JOLIET, IL —At a time when most of downtown Joliet looks like a ghost town amid the coronavirus outbreak, there is now a hub of construction starting behind a newly erected chain link fence adjacent to the Will County Courthouse.

For years, the city of Joliet has contemplated re-configuring Chicago Street to make it a through street, as used to be the case during the 1950s and 1960s when the downtown thrived.

This week, Joliet's P.T. Ferro Construction Co. got started tearing apart two now-off-limits public parking lots next to the courthouse. The city's Chicago Street reconfiguration project will cost about $2.8 million, city of Joliet Public Works Director Jim Trizna told Joliet Patch.

"We're reconnecting Chicago Street from Washington and Jefferson (Streets)," Trizna said. "Right now, it's estimated that the whole project will be done by October 30."

When the work is done this fall, travelers heading into downtown Joliet from Route 53 and Interstate 80 will no longer be forced to loop around the main drag of downtown.

Since the 1980s, Trizna said, Chicago Street motorists have been forced to turn at the three-way intersection that leads either to Washington Street or toward Scott Street.

The new downtown construction project will include installation of new storm sewers, new decorative street lighting and installation of a new traffic light at Jefferson Street. The two existing public parking lots will be made into one main public parking lot that will end up with 150 to 180 stalls, Trizna said.

Trizna said the city believes the reconfiguration of Chicago Street should be a huge economic benefit for existing downtown merchants as well as future developers.

Those motorists, especially if they are from out of town, completely bypass several downtown restaurants, the Rialto Square Theatre, Chicken-N-Spice, Juliet's, The Forge, the six-story Joliet Junior College Culinary Arts Building, among other places.

Also, come October, the current 1969-era courthouse will be closed and court officials will be moving into the new $215 million courthouse being built on the former First Midwest Bank property.

If Will County government officials decide to demolish the current courthouse, Trizna said, that presents another opportunity for additional downtown redevelopment.

As far as the Chicago Street realignment goes, the main corridor into downtown Joliet, South Chicago Street will still remain a one-way street for motorists coming from I-80 or Route 53, Trizna said. Also, semitrailers will still be forced to loop around the downtown along North Scott Street and stay on Route 53, he added.

Joliet Patch previously reported on the Chicago Street realignment project in January 2018.