From April to September crews will repair and resurface the 13 miles of the Edens, as well as rebuild six bridges. During construction, traffic capacity will be reduced by one-third, inconveniencing thousands of motorists.
"I'm going to have to look for an alternate route and I don't know what that route is right now - not many options," said Emmanuel Oshana, Edens driver.
IDOT strongly recommends drivers begin experiencing with alternative routes in the next couple of weeks. One detour drivers should steer clear of- the Tri-State Tollway, which is undergoing a reconstruction and widening project. Delays are already bad on the tollway.
"There's no question, it's going to be a trying time for our commuters on our system, we are coordinating with IDOT with the Edens construction as well as the Tri-State construction," said Brian McPartilin, executive director, IL Toll Authority.
The 294 repair zone does keep three lanes open in each direction, but there are several counter-flow lanes in place that can make maneuvering a little tricky. The first southbound counter-flow zone is from Rt. 132 to Half Day Road. The second one extends from Lake-Cook to Touhy. The northbound counter-flow zone is from Sterns School Road to the state line. While the work on the Edens should be done in September, the Tri-State project could extend into early 2010!
The speed limit in both construction zones is 45 mph. They will both have photo radar enforcement.
