I-80 construction woes to make for a ‘messy summer’

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Traffic heads west through road construction Tuesday, May 24, 2011, on I-80 near the Wheeler Avenue overpass in Joliet, Ill. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: September 29, 2011 12:45AM

JOLIET — Dual construction projects on Interstate 80 are a real commuting pain.

Traffic could be snarled for the entire summer, with the 22-mile stretch of roadwork not scheduled for completion until late fall.

State police Capt. Michael Cooke, commander of District 5, has a bigger worry, than driving delays. He fears motorists won’t take precautions, and a rash of accidents spawned by the construction will harm or even kill people by the time workers roll the orange construction barrels off the road.

Police aren’t sure if the construction work contributed to a recent fatal accident on I-80, but the number of accidents has increased significantly since the work began, Cooke said.

From April 20 through May 20, accidents on I-80 are up 52 percent compared to last year, he said. The number of accidents spiked 70 percent when the Interstate 55 work zone south of I-80 is included in the total, he added.

The construction work itself is not to blame, he said. The motoring mishaps are often caused by drivers who are talking on their cell phones, eating or changing radio stations while driving.

“Distracted driving is probably our biggest issue right now,” Cooke said.

Seconds count

If a lane is closed ahead and traffic has come to a halt, distracted motorists won’t see it in time.

“We’re trying to get the word out and make sure people understand it can be dangerous in a construction zone if they’re not paying attention,” Cooke said. “When they take their eyes off that windshield that’s when we’re ending up with problems.”

A car going 65 mph travels 95 feet in the second a motorist takes to look away from the road, he said.

“That can be a tough second,” he said.

There is so much traffic in the I-80 construction zone, drivers don’t have the luxury of reaction time, Cooke said. There is no time to assess the situation and slow down.

State police have more patrols in the work zone, but it is still up to motorists to be careful, Cooke said.

“We could have as many officers out there as possible, and it will never be enough,” he said. “Our job out there is really to keep people alive. There is nothing worse than to hear there is a fatality or a serious accident.”

Two projects

The Illinois Department of Transportation is overseeing two projects on I-80 for a total cost of $57.3 million.

The first project will add a third lane in each direction by converting an existing shoulder between Routes 30 and 45. The widening is needed to accommodate an increase in traffic spawned by the opening of Interstate 355’s south extension in 2007 and the bottleneck created where I-80 narrows from three lanes to two west of Route 45, said IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell.

The second project involves the resurfacing of I-80 from Route 30 to the Grundy County line. IDOT recently closed one lane in each direction between Larkin and Rowell avenues in Joliet for the resurfacing. That has caused a lot of the recent traffic problems, Tridgell said. But the lane had to be closed on the Des Plaines River bridge because there isn’t enough room to do the resurfacing work otherwise, he explained.

All of the lanes will be open July 1-5 for the holiday weekend, however. After the holiday, they will close again until mid-August.

Tridgell said motorists can go to www.dot.state.il.us/I80/index.html for more information on the work. He also said motorists thinking of using Route 30 as an alternate route should be aware that road will be under construction through 2012 for its own widening and reconstruction.

Alternate routes

Motorists looking for alternate routes are creating headaches in Joliet and other towns along the long roadwork zone.

All major east-west routes through town are more clogged, especially during rush hour, said Joliet Deputy Chief Mike Trafton. Route 6, McDonough Street, Jefferson Street and Black Road have all been affected, he said. Cars have to sit through several light cycles where Larkin Avenue meets with the east-west roads, he said.

In Channahon, the biggest backups are occurring where I-55 and Houbolt Road intersect with Route 6, said Channahon police Chief Joe Pena. State police are doing a good job of keeping Will and Grundy county chiefs informed on the work and lane closures, Pena added.

“At least we knew it was coming,” he said.

But all the notifications and warnings won’t do much to unclog the alternate routes.

“It will be a messy summer,” he said.