Villa Park to close Ardmore Avenue bridge

The deteriorating North Ardmore Avenue bridge over the railroad tracks in Villa Park will be permanently closed to all vehicles starting Aug. 25.

A structural inspection a week ago showed the aging concrete-and-steel overpass, already closed to truck traffic, has deteriorated to the point that most SUVs would exceed the new recommended weight limit.

"We want to err on the side of caution," said Vydas Juskelis, the village's director of public works.

The bridge spans the railroad tracks from Sunset to just south of North Avenue. Most affected will be motorists driving to the train station's commuter lot from the north - more than 5,000 cars a day. Those cars will be rerouted to Villa Avenue.

"Obviously, this will increase traffic on Villa Avenue and Addison Road," Juskelis said. The two alternate routes for north-south travel have grade railroad crossings, slowing traffic even more when there is a train.

Construction of a replacement bridge could start within eight months to a year, Juskelis said, and the new bridge will take a year to build. Village officials are in the process of obtaining federal funding, which is expected to cover 80 percent of the $3.5 million cost.

The original Ardmore Avenue bridge dates to the 1940s. It was rebuilt in the 1970s using part of the original structure.

Now, the concrete is deteriorating, exposing the steel supports - a process accelerated by road salt. There's no way to tell just by looking at the bridge how much the structure has been weakened, Juskelis said.

The Illinois Department of Transporation asked Villa Park to monitor the bridge quarterly. After the most recent inspection, engineers recommended Villa Park lower the weight limit from 10 tons to 3 tons.

"It didn't seem practical," Juskelis said, since most SUVs exceed the 3-ton limit. "And I had two different structural engineers and the state saying, 'You're really better off just closing it."'

The bridge still will be open to pedestrians.

Emergency vehicles such as fire trucks have been rerouted since the 10-ton limit was imposed.

The village will be putting fliers on cars in the commuter lot and handing them out at adjacent businesses, Juskelis said. A notice about the closing is posted on the village's Web site and officials also sent a Twitter alert.

"We'll do our best to get the replacement bridge up there as quickly as we can," Juskelis said.

"We definitely want to be sure conditions are safe. We might be overly cautious, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."