PLAINFIELD – The Plainfield Village Board reviewed road projects – one ready to go and others on the drawing board – at a workshop meeting Monday.
This summer, work will be done on ramp improvements at the U.S. 30 interchange with Interstate 55. Meanwhile, village officials continue to plan for a future Lockport Street bypass.
The planned ramp work at the U.S. 30 interchange with Interstate 55 is scheduled to last four to five months during the construction season this year. Bids are scheduled to be awarded next month.
The project, which has been years in the making, was outlined to Plainfield village officials by Strand Associates, an engineering and consulting firm that has provided services on the interchange plan to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The plan includes widening northbound and southbound exit ramps, and modernizing traffic signals on U.S. 30.
Strand also provided village officials with an update on the Lockport Street bypass project, which would be a new road connecting Lockport Street with State Route 126. The plan is to remove cut-through and truck traffic now taking Lockport Street through the downtown area, Plainfield Public Works Director Allen Persons said.
Village officials said the bypass is needed to prepare for two proposed I-55 interchanges at Lockport Street and Route 126/Essington Road. Plainfield is working with both Romeoville and Bolingbrook in planning for the possible interchanges.
Village Trustee Margie Bonuchi said the bypass study should include construction of an overpass due to increased Canadian National train traffic at the State Route 126 crossing, which can back up cars for miles. The tracks are east of State Route 59 and west of Eastern Avenue.
The village last year paid $93,000 for a feasibility study analyzing potential routes for a new road between Lockport Street and Route 126. The project faces funding hurdles and would require the acquisition of property to build the road. Questions also have been raised about the impact on Plainfield Park District’s Four Seasons Park on Lockport Street.
Persons said the village will provide cost updates once a bypass design is selected.