Start date nears for Route 59 widening in Naperville
Work to widen Route 59 in Naperville and Aurora is set to begin in less than two weeks as the governor's office on Wednesday announced funding for the last few aspects of the nearly $90 million project.
Contracts totaling $34.6 million were awarded for widening the congested state road between North Aurora Road and Aurora Avenue/New York Street — the southern leg of a roadwork area that stretches 3.5 miles from Ferry to North Aurora roads.
Those contracts are in addition to $50.2 the state committed to the project last month.
The majority of funding announced Wednesday will go to Martam Construction, Inc., of Elgin and K-Five Construction Corporation of Lemont, which will widen Route 59 between North Aurora Road and Aurora Avenue/New York Street to three lanes in each direction, said Bill Novack, Naperville's director of transportation, engineering and development.
Novack said Herlihy Mid-Continent Company of Romeoville also was awarded roughly $2 million to $3 million for construction of retaining walls along the southern leg of the roadwork area.
“We're thrilled the state is supporting the project, approving the contracts and moving forward with construction,” Novack said.
The construction is paid for by a combination of increased vehicle fees, liquor taxes and video gambling revenues that lawmakers approved in 2009.
Signs alerting drivers to the work are set to be posted Monday, Aug. 12, while the work itself is scheduled to begin Monday, Aug. 19, Novack said.
Drivers first will notice construction crews near Route 59's interchange with I-88 between Ferry and Diehl roads, where one of the first “diverging diamond” traffic patterns in the state will be implemented. The design, to be built by Herlihy Mid-Continent Company under a nearly $25.9 million contract with the state, essentially reroutes drivers to the opposite side of the road to eliminate most left turns across opposing traffic.
Work also will start this year on the northern end of the project area between Diehl and North Aurora roads. Crews from Martam Construction will rebuild this section for $24.4 million.
The Route 59 project is expected to be complete by late summer or fall 2015. Crews will keep one lane open in each direction during construction, but drivers are advised to find other routes or leave extra time.
Naperville has sought improvements to the highly traveled road, which sees roughly 50,000 vehicles each day, since 2002.
Ÿ Daily Herald staff writer Mike Riopell contributed to this story.