College Drive/Route 83 To Be Closed For Water Main Installation

PALOS TOWNSHIP, IL — A section of Route 83/College Drive will be closed beginning 8 p.m. May 1 to May 4 for installation of the Oak Lawn regional water main project.

Starting 8 p.m. Friday, May 1, the 7700 block of Route 83/College Drive will be closed through 5 a.m. Monday, May 4. A section of pipe will be installed, necessitating the closure of the roadway in both eastbound and westbound directions.

Detour signs intersecting ill be posted and no side streets intersecting the roadway will be affected. Following the reopening of the roadway, periodic lane changes may be necessary to restore the pavement.

Oak Lawn buys lake water from Chicago and sells it to 12 area suburbs, including Chicago Ridge, Country Club Hills, Matteson, Mokena, New Lenox, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Orland Hills, Orland Park, Palos Hills, Palos Park and Tinley Park. The 50-year-old distribution system is in need of a significant overhaul. All the towns have agreed to help pay for it, using a formula that considers factors, including how much each suburb consumes in water. The system serves 350,000 customers. The project has run over budget costing $217 million.