DOWNTOWN — Construction of a new bridge connecting the Dan Ryan and the Eisenhower Expressway is scheduled to begin early next month, potentially creating a new round of traffic headaches for drivers.
Crews will begin working on the new flyover bridge — part of the $475 million, four-year overhaul of the Jane Byrne Interchange — on March 7, state officials said Tuesday.
The bridge will connect the inbound Dan Ryan with the outbound Eisenhower, replacing "the existing single-lane, winding ramp with a two-lane ramp and bridge," officials said in a news release.
New signs and lighting will also be added to the mile-long roadway.
The project comes as crews continue work on the Harrison Street Bridge. Officials said that bridge should be completed by late fall. An off-ramp at Morgan Street on the westbound Eisenhower wont be completed until the summer of 2016.
The flyover project "will require several lane and ramp closures until summer 2016," officials said in a news release. Detour routes for the following closures will be posted, officials said:
•The ramp from the inbound Dan Ryan to inbound Congress Parkway;
•The right lane of the inbound Dan Ryan from the Stevenson to Roosevelt Road;
•The ramp from Roosevelt Road to the Eisenhower/Congress Parkway;
•and the ramp from Taylor Street to the inbound Dan Ryan.
In addition, "the inbound and outbound Stevenson Expressway ramps to the Dan Ryan will be reduced from two lanes to one lane."
There will also be full-scale closures for major work on the project on select weekends this summer and fall, including a complete shutdown of the Eisenhower into the Congress Parkway as well as "multiple lanes" on the Dan Ryan and Kennedy expressways, officials said.
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