Next year Rt. 31 tollway ramps could be closed six months

North Aurora's Route 31 entrance and exit ramps to the Reagan Tollway could close during part of 2008 to accommodate the tollway's widening project there, the Kane County Board's transportation committee learned Monday.

Traffic will be rerouted to the Orchard Road and Farnsworth Avenue ramps during the closure, tentatively scheduled between April and September, Illinois Tollway Chief Engineer Jeff Dailey told the committee.

"There will definitely be an impact, but it shouldn't be severe," Dailey said.

Work began last month on the widening project, which will add a third lane in each direction between the Aurora toll plaza and Orchard Road. The additional lanes are expected to help reduce congestion on that 3.4-mile stretch of the tollway.

The project -- scheduled to wrap up by the end of 2009 -- also includes rebuilding and widening the Fox River bridge, rebuilding the Route 31 bridge over the tollway and the ramp bridge at the Route 31 interchange.

It is one of three widening projects along a 23-mile stretch of I-88 from Oak Brook to Aurora, part of the tollway's overall $5.3 billion congestion-relief program.

Some 28,000 vehicles travel on the tollway between Orchard and Route 31 on a daily basis, according to 2005 traffic counts.