Stearns School Road Bridge to reopen Friday

Construction is finished on the Stearns School Road Bridge over the Tri-State Tollway, and it will reopen today, authorities said.

The bridge - located just north of the Gurnee Mills Mall, Great Wolf Lodge and Six Flags Great America - was closed to traffic March 1. It's reopening two months ahead of schedule, according to a news release from the Illinois Tollway.

The Illinois Tollway, the village of Gurnee and the Lake County Division of Transportation worked together and spent $12 million to reconstruct the 70-year-old bridge, the news release said.

The project involved removing the old two-lane bridge and replacing it with a three-lane bridge with 4-foot-wide shoulders, maintaining the existing north-side pedestrian walkway and adding a walkway on the south side, the news release said. The new bridge is expected to have a 75-year service life.

Up to 15,900 vehicles use the Stearns School Road Bridge daily to cross over the tollway. Temporary lane closures are expected during off-peak times as workers continue working on landscaping, according to the news release.