The Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that a project to remove the unused City Water, Light and Power railroad bridge over Interstate 55 at milepost 94 will begin Monday, Feb. 16. The bridge is between the Stevenson Drive and the Sixth Street interchanges.
“This project is part of our ongoing commitment to the future expansion of the I-55 and I-72 corridor around Springfield,” said Teresa Price, IDOT Region 4 Engineer. “As we work to improve the safety and increase the capacity of this significant corridor, please help us by reducing your speed when driving through the work zone or using an alternate route.”
The removal of the bridge is expected to take two months. Overnight lane closures from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday night through Friday morning, will be required. Additionally, starting in March, complete closures of the interstate from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday night through Friday morning will be required. A detour will be posted utilizing Stevenson Drive and Sixth Street.
The replacement of the Bissell Road, Andrew Road and Sudduth Road overpasses starting in 2027 are the next projects that need to be completed prior to expanding I-55 to six lanes.
Over the next six years, IDOT is planning to improve 7,107 lane miles of highway and 8.4 million square feet of bridge deck as part of Rebuild Illinois, which is investing $33.2 billion into all modes of transportation. Accomplishments through Year Six of Rebuild Illinois include almost $20.8 billion of improvements statewide to 21,309 lane miles of highway, 815 bridges and 1,181 additional safety improvements.
