Traffic alert: Lisle bridge repairs begin next month

The bridge that carries Yackley Avenue over the BNSF Railway tracks in Lisle this year is expected to get nearly $1.4 million in repairs.

But the work won't start until after the Fourth of July to avoid disrupting traffic during the village's Eyes to the Skies festival.

The DuPage County Board will vote next week on awarding a $1,379,270 contract to Herlihy Mid-Continent Co. to repair the bridge, which is located south of Ogden Avenue and north of Maple Avenue.

The Romeoville-based construction company beat two other bidders by submitting the lowest price quote for the project. On Tuesday, the county board's transportation committee recommended approval of the contract.

Chris Snyder, DuPage's director of transportation/county engineer, said the decision to fix the bridge was made after the county did an inspection of the structure.

"We inspect our bridges on a biannual basis," Snyder said. "This was one that was getting to the point where repairs were needed that were above and beyond what our maintenance crews could do."

As part of the bridge project, construction crews will do joint repairs, concrete patching and replace approach slabs.

"It's a bridge rehab," Snyder said. "Based on its condition, the bridge has reached the point that it needs some rehab."

On average, about 16,400 cars and trucks use that part of Yackley each day, according to data provided by Illinois Department of Transportation.

County officials said the bridge, which has two lanes in each direction, won't be closed during construction.

To allow workers to make repairs, the bridge will be reduced to a single lane in each direction.

The plan is to start construction after Lisle's Eyes to the Skies festival, which runs from July 1 to July 5 in nearby Community Park.

The work is scheduled to be finished sometime before the end of the year.

"Compared to what you see and drive on today, it (the bridge) will be in a lot better condition at the end of the construction," Snyder said.

The Yackley bridge rehabilitation is one of two roadway bridge projects listed in the county's highway construction program for 2015.

Last month, work started on the replacement of the Warrenville Road bridge that spans the West Branch of the DuPage River. The bridge is scheduled to remain closed until the end of November.