IDOT starts Wednesday on bridge control project

Work starts Wednesday on a project that will move bridge tenders in Joliet to a central office where they will remotely control six local drawbridges over the Des Plaines River.

The project has been in the works since at least 2014 when the Illinois Department of Transportation held a public meeting to present the plans.

IDOT in a news release said work will begin Wednesday and is expected to be completed in November 2020 depending on weather conditions throughout the project.

The project “will require occasional, daytime lane closures approaching the bridges,” according to the release. IDOT did not specify when or where lane closures might occur Wednesday and could not be reached for additional comment.

Individual bridges also will be closed temporarily starting in August for upgrades needed for central control as the improvements are made at those bridges, according to the release.

The bridges built in the 1930s have been controlled by tenders located in the stone houses at the bridges. The project will move those operators to a central office where they will be aided by cameras located and other equipment allowing them to lift and lower the bridges for passing barge traffic.

IDOT in the past has said that the central office would be located at its building just west of the Jackson Street bridge.

The tenders will operate that bridge along with the other downtown bridges located at Ruby, Cass, Jefferson and McDonough streets. The central office also will control the Brandon Road bridge located just outside Joliet in Joliet Township.

The project includes the construction of a central office and upgrades in electrical equipment on the bridges, IDOT said in the release.