CHICAGO — Frustration continues for drivers who use the Kennedy Expressway as the reversible lanes are still closed, nearly nine months after work began on this phase of the project.
“Never,” Governor J.B. Pritzker jokingly answered when asked about the completion date of the current phase of the Kennedy Expressway construction project.
On Wednesday morning, new signs offered a small update, but there is still no concrete end date for work being done to the Kennedy’s two reversible express lanes.
The WGN-TV newsroom continues to get calls from drivers on the topic as travel times between O’Hare International Airport and downtown can soar up to 90 minutes.
Commuters in nearby Irving Park say not having an end date is frustrating.
“I think you do have to hold people’s feet to the fire and make sure these construction projects get done on time and under budget as much as you can,” Irving Park resident Andrew Yohanan said.
“Late fall” is the verbiage a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has been using for months.
WGN Investigates previously obtained updates from contractors. They list a contract completion date of October 31st. They also show, on some days, fewer than eight workers were on the job.
IDOT has previously said most of the work being done now is behind the scenes on the fiber optic cabling, cameras, connections and gates that allow traffic flow to be reversed remotely.
“There is a schedule they’re on now. I don’t want to make promises about it, because we’ve all heard promises that haven’t been delivered in the past with regard to the Kennedy. But I will say I’ve asked an awful lot of questions about it so I would expect the work will continue at a rapid pace,” Gov. Pritzker said.
WGN-TV has reached out to IDOT for an update on the project but has yet to hear back.
The reversible lane project is the second of three phases, all part of a multi-million dollar rehabilitation of the Kennedy Expressway. The final phase is set to begin in 2025.
