Western Avenue viaduct closes, demolition begins

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Western Avenue viaduct - which passes over Clybourn and Belmont avenues on the North Side -- closed early Tuesday to begin the demolition of the viaduct.

Western Avenue at street level will remain open until Friday night through the weekend when demolition work takes place. During the weekend, Western Avenue will close between Nelson and Roscoe. After the weekend, lanes to will be limited to one lane in each direction.

The viaduct was built in the early 1960s and will be replaced with a new five-way intersection.

The project is expected to take 18 months to complete.