Illinois interesting bid annoucements

[US20IL64]

"Item 93 appears to be the main Des Plaines River bridge contract for I-80."

Bridge is 61 years old this year! The I-290 bridge over Salt Creek in Wood Dale has been replaced twice since the 70's, I 80's is ready to go.

[Rick Powell]

"Item 93 appears to be the main Des Plaines River bridge contract for I-80."

Bridge is 61 years old this year! The I-290 bridge over Salt Creek in Wood Dale has been replaced twice since the 70's, I 80's is ready to go.

The new Des Plaines River bridge, a deep steel plate girder/concrete deck design, should last at least 80 years, with an interim deck replacement. We are re-decking a similar design soon (IL 23/71 over the Illinois River in Ottawa) that was built in 1981 and should get another 40 years or so out of it once the replacement deck is on it. And we might be able to get yet another 40 out of it with a 2nd re-decking if the girders and piers hold up.

[ChiMilNet]

"Item 93 appears to be the main Des Plaines River bridge contract for I-80."

Bridge is 61 years old this year! The I-290 bridge over Salt Creek in Wood Dale has been replaced twice since the 70's, I 80's is ready to go.

Different scale of structures between the two, the I-80 one is pretty big where as the I-290 one is more on the scale of a standard overpass.

[hobsini2]

"Item 93 appears to be the main Des Plaines River bridge contract for I-80."

Bridge is 61 years old this year! The I-290 bridge over Salt Creek in Wood Dale has been replaced twice since the 70's, I 80's is ready to go.

The new Des Plaines River bridge, a deep steel plate girder/concrete deck design, should last at least 80 years, with an interim deck replacement. We are re-decking a similar design soon (IL 23/71 over the Illinois River in Ottawa) that was built in 1981 and should get another 40 years or so out of it once the replacement deck is on it. And we might be able to get yet another 40 out of it with a 2nd re-decking if the girders and piers hold up.

Rick, I assume they will close 23/71 crossing with a detour of I-39. Is that correct?

[Rick Powell]

"Item 93 appears to be the main Des Plaines River bridge contract for I-80."

Bridge is 61 years old this year! The I-290 bridge over Salt Creek in Wood Dale has been replaced twice since the 70's, I 80's is ready to go.

The new Des Plaines River bridge, a deep steel plate girder/concrete deck design, should last at least 80 years, with an interim deck replacement. We are re-decking a similar design soon (IL 23/71 over the Illinois River in Ottawa) that was built in 1981 and should get another 40 years or so out of it once the replacement deck is on it. And we might be able to get yet another 40 out of it with a 2nd re-decking if the girders and piers hold up.

Rick, I assume they will close 23/71 crossing with a detour of I-39. Is that correct?

It's a 4-lane bridge, and the plan is to re-deck it half at a time and maintain the existing traffic pattern, but with only one lane in each direction during construction. It would be difficult to re-route 23,000 vehicles a day to I-39, especially when most of the northbound traffic wants to go northeast (including me; it would turn my 10-minute commute into 28 minutes according to Google, using the closer IL 178 bridge crossing). I remember the previous 2-lane Hilliard bridge at Ottawa; it had a lot of traffic backups in the morning and afternoon but was tolerable for most of the day. It is likely that alternate route signage will be used to try to re-direct some traffic from the construction zone.

[3467]

Well thanks to Rick Powell. The project I was concerned about that came in high US 67 North of Monmouth got approved . 6 million a mile . It's pretty much a whole new road looking at the plans
The 4 lane of 34 west of town hasn't gone to bid yet but is in this year's plan. It's expected and 12 million a mile.
67 though Industry is also supposed to go out this year It's 8 million for 2 miles so it seems more than a repave. Looking forward to seeing the plans.

[Revive 755]

List of projects for the April 24, 2026 Letting is up.

• Item 36 appears to be a widening contract for at least part of IL 31 between IL 120 and IL 176.

[Rick Powell]

List of projects for the April 24, 2026 Letting is up.

• Item 36 appears to be a widening contract for at least part of IL 31 between IL 120 and IL 176.

Item 89 is another add-lane improvement for the "WiKaDuKe Trail" which will eventually connect Ridge Road in Minooka to Eola Road in Aurora. Upon this section's completion, Ridge Road will be 4 lanes all the way from the new CN underpass in Minooka to Caton Farm Road in Joliet, a distance of about 8 miles.

[Revive 755]

Item 89 is another add-lane improvement for the "WiKaDuKe Trail" which will eventually connect Ridge Road in Minooka to Eola Road in Aurora. Upon this section's completion, Ridge Road will be 4 lanes all the way from the new CN underpass in Minooka to Caton Farm Road in Joliet, a distance of about 8 miles.

And it adds more flashing yellow arrows to Kendall County.  Although the US 52 intersection is shown on Sheet 248 using flashing yellow arrows for Ridge Road and 5-section towers with circular greens for US 52.

[edwaleni]

List of projects for the April 24, 2026 Letting is up.

• Item 36 appears to be a widening contract for at least part of IL 31 between IL 120 and IL 176.

Item 89 is another add-lane improvement for the "WiKaDuKe Trail" which will eventually connect Ridge Road in Minooka to Eola Road in Aurora. Upon this section's completion, Ridge Road will be 4 lanes all the way from the new CN underpass in Minooka to Caton Farm Road in Joliet, a distance of about 8 miles.

Watching Ridge Road becoming the Randall Road of Kendall County.

A lot of housing going into this area west of Joliet, south of Yorkville.  Won't be too much longer when the massive retail comes a calling along here as well.

[hobsini2]

List of projects for the April 24, 2026 Letting is up.

• Item 36 appears to be a widening contract for at least part of IL 31 between IL 120 and IL 176.

That's a given.
Ridge Rd used to be my shortcut I would use to get to I-80 from Bolingbrook if I was going to Iowa.
Too many people know it now. It's about to be Weber Rd all over again.
Item 89 is another add-lane improvement for the "WiKaDuKe Trail" which will eventually connect Ridge Road in Minooka to Eola Road in Aurora. Upon this section's completion, Ridge Road will be 4 lanes all the way from the new CN underpass in Minooka to Caton Farm Road in Joliet, a distance of about 8 miles.

Watching Ridge Road becoming the Randall Road of Kendall County.

A lot of housing going into this area west of Joliet, south of Yorkville.  Won't be too much longer when the massive retail comes a calling along here as well.

[kphoger]

wonky

Remember:  when quoting, the [Preview] button is your friend.

[brad]

List of projects for the April 24, 2026 Letting is up.

• Item 36 appears to be a widening contract for at least part of IL 31 between IL 120 and IL 176.

Item 89 is another add-lane improvement for the "WiKaDuKe Trail" which will eventually connect Ridge Road in Minooka to Eola Road in Aurora. Upon this section's completion, Ridge Road will be 4 lanes all the way from the new CN underpass in Minooka to Caton Farm Road in Joliet, a distance of about 8 miles.

When will Ridge/Stewart Rd. connect to Eola Rd? That's the last missing link.

[Rick Powell]

When will Ridge/Stewart Rd. connect to Eola Rd? That's the last missing link.

Last time I looked there was nothing in the Kendall County long range plan to build it. The county did record a centerline to protect it from development and you can see the edge of the corridor being skirted by development at one location.

https://imgur.com/a/xLYbptx

Much of the Ridge Road expansion in Joliet was funded by the developers, and developer funding was a principle of the WiKaDuKe concept. The section now being let between Holt and Black is fairly vacant and not sure if there is any developer money or land donations going toward it, but I think the county sees the need to handle the traffic now.

(Edit - added 4/1/26) After the Holt Road-Black road add lanes, the next section up for 4-laning appears to be Caton Farm Road to Plainfield Road, which will add lanes to the section partially realigned at IL 126 several years ago. The county has that section programmed for $35M, with anticipated developer contributions.

[hobsini2]

When will Ridge/Stewart Rd. connect to Eola Rd? That's the last missing link.

Last time I looked there was nothing in the Kendall County long range plan to build it. The county did record a centerline to protect it from development and you can see the edge of the corridor being skirted by development at one location.

https://imgur.com/a/xLYbptx

Much of the Ridge Road expansion in Joliet was funded by the developers, and developer funding was a principle of the WiKaDuKe concept. The section now being let between Holt and Black is fairly vacant and not sure if there is any developer money or land donations going toward it, but I think the county sees the need to handle the traffic now.

(Edit - added 4/1/26) After the Holt Road-Black road add lanes, the next section up for 4-laning appears to be Caton Farm Road to Plainfield Road, which will add lanes to the section partially realigned at IL 126 several years ago. The county has that section programmed for $35M, with anticipated developer contributions.

When Ridge Rd was realigned, IMO they should have made that part 4 lanes so they wouldn't have to go back and do it again just a few years later.

[edwaleni]

When Ridge Rd was realigned, IMO they should have made that part 4 lanes so they wouldn't have to go back and do it again just a few years later.

That is not how the asphalt lobby in Springfield see it.

[Rick Powell]

When Ridge Rd was realigned, IMO they should have made that part 4 lanes so they wouldn't have to go back and do it again just a few years later.

Kendall County Highway Department is known for their 2-lane expandable sections. For example, the Orchard Road Fox River bridge was built with widened piers so that they would not need to go into the water when it came time to expand the bridge widths, and the 4-lane bridge widening is now in their long range program about 25 years after the original construction. I can see the point where the County could have 4-laned the realigned Ridge Road section near IL 126 when it was built; however, it would have created a few miles of 2 lane bottleneck from Caton Farm to Wheeler Road unless they'd picked up that section too in addition to the realignment. There may have been a funding issue or something that precluded taking a bigger bite at the time, and Kendall is always sensitive to try and balance their projects county-wide to serve all areas.

As it is, the Ridge Road realignment was done in 2013, it's not perceptably over capacity, and coming back in program year 2030 with additional lanes doesn't seem to be too long a wait, or something that absolutely should have been done sooner, to me anyway.

[hobsini2]

When Ridge Rd was realigned, IMO they should have made that part 4 lanes so they wouldn't have to go back and do it again just a few years later.

Kendall County Highway Department is known for their 2-lane expandable sections. For example, the Orchard Road Fox River bridge was built with widened piers so that they would not need to go into the water when it came time to expand the bridge widths, and the 4-lane bridge widening is now in their long range program about 25 years after the original construction. I can see the point where the County could have 4-laned the realigned Ridge Road section near IL 126 when it was built; however, it would have created a few miles of 2 lane bottleneck from Caton Farm to Wheeler Road unless they'd picked up that section too in addition to the realignment. There may have been a funding issue or something that precluded taking a bigger bite at the time, and Kendall is always sensitive to try and balance their projects county-wide to serve all areas.

As it is, the Ridge Road realignment was done in 2013, it's not perceptably over capacity, and coming back in program year 2030 with additional lanes doesn't seem to be too long a wait, or something that absolutely should have been done sooner, to me anyway.

I trust your timeline Rick. It seems it was not too long ago we had that 3 way stop at 126 and the jogged east to Plainfield Rd to continue on Stewart Rd. I was thinking you just have the 4 lane section be marked at the signal with 126 but the markings give a wide shoulder until it is time to officially widen the gaps.

[Rick Powell]

I trust your timeline Rick. It seems it was not too long ago we had that 3 way stop at 126 and the jogged east to Plainfield Rd to continue on Stewart Rd. I was thinking you just have the 4 lane section be marked at the signal with 126 but the markings give a wide shoulder until it is time to officially widen the gaps.

I had to go back and look at a few news articles to remember when the Ridge Road realignment was. I was gone from IDOT at the end of 2009 but remember coordinating with Plainfield and Kendall County on the realignment project around that time. FYI here is a link to the Kendall County Long Range highway plan (2025-2045, adopted November 2025). The 5-Year 2026-2030 TIP is also included, the back 3 pages.
https://www.kendallcountyil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/31628/638991483105730000

[Revive 755]

List of projects for the June 12, 2026 Letting is up.

• Item 2 appears to be the widening "IL-47 from Jericho Road to south of Galena Road".
• Item 5 seems to be widening IL 31 from IL 120 south to the end of the previous widening contract on the April 2026 Letting.
• Item 12 is for bridge work on I-290, appears to be the bridges over Golf Road, Woodfield Road, and Higgins Road.
• Item 52 is for something at the I-74/IL 5 interchange.  Looks like it could be an advance contract.
• Item 123 (already deleted), would have been "1 mile of roadway reconstruction on 6th Street from the I-55/I-72 interchange to Stevenson Drive."
• Item 131 is another advertisement for reconstruction the I-57/IL 16 interchange.

[paulthemapguy]

Item 2 appears to be the widening "IL-47 from Jericho Road to south of Galena Road".

Very thankful for a widening project there. Traffic is terrible on that 2-lane section between Yorkville and Sugar Grove. Interesting that this project has territory in two different IDOT districts. Any word on continuing the widening north from Jericho to Cross Street in Sugar Grove?

[Rick Powell]

Item 2 appears to be the widening "IL-47 from Jericho Road to south of Galena Road".

Very thankful for a widening project there. Traffic is terrible on that 2-lane section between Yorkville and Sugar Grove. Interesting that this project has territory in two different IDOT districts. Any word on continuing the widening north from Jericho to Cross Street in Sugar Grove?

The project spans Districts 1 and 3. District 3 was the lead on the planning study and public involvement, while each district developed the construction plans for their individual sections.

Not sure why District 1 split their construction into 2 sections. The remaining District 1 section from Jericho Road to Cross Street has a highway/railroad underpass in it. The section in District 3 from Kennedy Road to Galena Road also has a highway/railroad underpass, and finishing all the agreements and obtaining all the easements are the last remaining items to do before the project can go to letting.