Tri-State open; power line repairs delayed

ComEd officials decided to postpone the planned Tuesday afternoon closing of the Tri-State Tollway to repair power lines that were downed earlier in the day, a company spokesman said.

A delay in getting the right equipment along with a desire to work during non-rush hour times, were cited as the primary reasons for the postponement, spokesman Jeff Burdick said.

Crews are expected to begin working sometime after midnight Wednesday.

The tollway was to be shut down Tuesday for most of two hours, starting at noon, to replace a pair of broken wires that were snapped by a construction crane. The plan was to close all lanes in both directions for about an hour to replace one broken line. Illinois State Police would then allow some traffic to pass, before the lanes were closed again for at least 45 minutes to repair the second damaged line.

Illinois State Police Sgt. Thomas Gartner said the crane was hauling a piece of rebar in a construction zone about 8 a.m. when the crane spun, struck and snapped the power lines at West Lake Avenue.

Gartner said the live power lines dropped onto the roadway, forcing emergency crews to shut down I-294 for about an hour.

"ComEd was called in to handle the situation, and then we reopened the lanes," he said. "We are still trying to piece together how the crane hit the power lines in the first place, but that's going to take some time."

About 1,800 customers lost power in the Glenview, Northbrook, and Des Plaines area when the wire snapped. Power was restored to those customers within 20 minutes, officials said.