4 Nights Of Lane Closures Scheduled On Tri-State Tollway

METTAWA, IL — Bridge repairs will briefly shut down all lanes of the Tri-State Tollway for four nights starting Saturday. Tollway officials said the overnight lane closures are needed to safely accommodate workers replacing a bridge beam on the Bradley Road bridge over I-94 north of the Lake Forest Oasis.

One outbound lane will close around 7 p.m. on Saturday, a second lane will close at 8 p.m. and there will be intermittent full closures of all outbound lanes of I-94 starting at midnight. Each period of total lane closure will last 15-minutes, according to the tollway. Similar closures on outbound lanes are scheduled for Sunday night.

Inbound lanes will be gradually closed starting Monday at 7 p.m., with full closures to begin after midnight. On Tuesday, full stops are scheduled in both directions overnight into Wednesday morning. All lanes are due to be reopened by 5 a.m. each morning.

The tollway said the 1950s-era Bradley Road bridge will be replaced with a longer and wider bridge with 12-foot lanes and 8-foot shoulders. Currently closed, the Bradley Road bridge has been used by up to 4,500 vehicles a day, according to the tollway. It was scheduled to reopen to through traffic by the end of the year, with all construction work due to be complete in spring 2019.

There are increased penalties for traffic violations in work zones. The minimum penalty for speeding is $375, failing to yield to a vehicle on the shoulder with flashing lights can be penalized with a fine up to $10,000 and hitting a roadway worker can bring a 14-year prison sentence, according to the tollway. Motorists were asked to drive carefully and look out for adjustments to traffic patterns.