When will Kennedy reversible lanes reopen? IDOT looks to next week
Relief for Kennedy Expressway drivers should arrive next week when the reversible lanes reopen, Illinois Department of Transportation officials confirmed Wednesday.
Updating the two lanes on the busy corridor has turned commuting into crawling for many since construction started in spring 2024.
IDOT had hoped to finish the job by mid-December at the latest, but the project turned out to be more complicated than expected, engineers explained last month.
“Weather permitting, we still anticipate the week of Jan. 13,” IDOT spokeswoman Maria Castaneda said.
IDOT engineers announced Wednesday testing of the new reversible gate system was wrapping up. Work zone barriers will be removed and new pavement markers will be applied starting Thursday, weather permitting.
That means motorists can expect three overnights of lane closures on the inbound and outbound Kennedy and Edens expressways. One lane will stay open in each direction.
IDOT is in the final stretch of a three-year Kennedy redo between the Edens Expressway and Ohio Street that involves replacing 36 bridges.
In 2024, crews focused on replacing the reversible lane access control system (REVLAC) as well as fixing pavement.
But installing cameras plus new software and electrical features in a decades-old system posed challenges. Getting “all the computers to talk to each other,” took more time than expected, District 1 Bureau Chief of Construction Jon Schumacher said at a Dec. 17 briefing.
The swinging gates that control access to the reversible lanes were last redone in 1990.
When complete, the modernized REVLAC system will switch between inbound and outbound more efficiently and quickly than before, and it will be less prone to breakdowns, engineers said.
Starting this March, workers will pivot to the outbound lanes. The project should wrap in mid-December.
During the outbound phase, the reversible lanes will accommodate outbound traffic plus two of the mainline outbound lanes not under construction.
Crews upgraded the Kennedy’s inbound lanes in 2023. Other improvements include adding LED lighting and painting Hubbard’s Cave.
On average, the corridor accommodates about 275,000 vehicles a day.