Elgin bridge project to wrap up for morning rush

The Kimball Street bridge in downtown Elgin is scheduled to reopen before morning rush hour Thursday after being closed a week for Metra to replace a section of railroad tracks just west of the Fox River.

“That's the newest, latest schedule,” said David Lawry, the city's general services director. “We'll be able to pull the barricades before morning.”

The project was originally supposed to wrap up today, but Metra called off some asphalt work Tuesday because of the high winds, Lawry said.

The closure has wreaked havoc on the downtown area, which has seen its share of construction projects this year, the largest being a water main replacement and reconstruction of Highland Avenue.

Last week, closing the closest two-way bridge to the downtown resulted in long delays on Route 31 and Elgin police had to assign more officers to work overtime to direct traffic during morning and evening rush hours.

Police Chief Jeff Swoboda even had a hand in directing traffic this week.

The overtime for the Metra project cost the city about $6,000 per day for traffic detail, Elgin police spokeswoman Sue Olafson said.

Elgin also has more downtown river crossings at Highland, Chicago Street and National Street.

Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said none of those three areas are in the agency's repair plans for this year.

“There are not on the list to be done this year,” he said. “We don't have a schedule for next year (yet).”