CHICAGO — The first major road closure for construction on the Bloomingdale Trail and The 606 will take place this weekend when Western Avenue is closed Friday night through early Monday morning for bridge replacement.
Officials have long said the 100-year-old bridges would need to be repaired and even replaced, but this marks the first time such a major arterial street will have to be closed for the work.
Crews will begin work at 8 p.m. Friday "working around the clock to complete the process as quickly and efficiently as possible," a release from the Chicago Department of Transportation said. Western will be reopened no later than 5 a.m. Monday, the release said
Western will be closed Wabansia and Cortland avenues, but traffic will be detoured at the larger North and Armitage avenues, the city said.
Specifically, southbound traffic will be rerouted west onto California Avenue via Armitage and then back to Western at North, while northbound traffic will be detoured east to Damen Avenue via North and then back to Western on Armitage.
Western Avenue CTA Route No. 49 buses will also be detoured during the work, the city said.
"The current bridge in place at Western and Bloomingdale avenues causes significant traffic bottlenecking as concrete piers reduce four lanes to two as vehicles approach the bridge," the city said in the release.
"The upcoming work is the first step for improvements to the site, including a new bridge that will allow better traffic flow on Western and create an access point to the Bloomingdale Trail, the centerpiece of The 606 rails-to-trails project," the city said.
Crews will be tearing down parts of the concrete bridge and removing some segments entirely.
Workers spent months stripping the concrete bridges of lead paint to avoid scattering lead-tainted dust during the bridge tear-downs.
"Residents living near the bridge may hear noise or feel vibrations during the weekend work period," the release said.
Similar weekend bridge work and closures will be happening at Ashland Avenue and Cortland Street, and Milwaukee Avenue and Leavitt Street in the coming weeks, the city said.
