Tri-State section to close for repairs starting Saturday night

It's the busiest road in the Illinois tollway system, but this weekend a section of the Tri-State (I-294) will close down for emergency repairs.

All lanes of the northbound Tri-State between the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) and Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) will shut down starting around midnight Saturday until about 8 a.m. Sunday.

The unusual step is necessitated by damage to the Balmoral Avenue bridge. A dump truck crashed into the structure Monday, hitting it at full speed and requiring a support beam to be removed and then replaced.

“While the bridge remains structurally stable and poses no risk to drivers, we always want to err on the side of caution when it comes to safety,” Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said in a statement.

The northbound lanes will shut down again later this summer to allow workers to install the new beam.

Tollway crews will start closing lanes at 7 p.m. Saturday near the bridge. Lanes will reopen gradually through 8 a.m. Sunday.

Two lanes on the southbound Tri-State will also shut down during the midnight to 8 a.m. time frame. And until noon Sunday, one lane in each direction will be closed from the Jane Addams to the Reagan Memorial.

A posted detour will take drivers from northbound I-294 to the westbound I-290 and from there to eastbound I-90 and back to the Tri-State.

Motorists heading to O'Hare International Airport via the northbound Tri-State are advised to give themselves extra time Sunday morning.