Houbolt bridge in Joliet on schedule, new interchange completion pushed back

Completion of the Houbolt Road bridge in Joliet may be just a couple of months away, but the Interstate 80 interchange to accommodate the expected truck traffic won’t be finished until the third quarter of this year.

Joliet Public Works Director Greg Ruddy provided a quick update on the massive project last week to the Joliet City Council Public Service Committee.

The bridge “will likely be completed in the next couple of months,” Ruddy said. The new interchange and widened Houbolt Road is now scheduled for completion in the third quarter of this year, pushed back from a previous July target, he said after the meeting.

That means trucks using the bridge may take an alternate route to Interstate 55 for a few more months as construction continues on Houbolt Road and the interchange.

An opening date for the bridge has not been set.

But Ruddy’s comments are in line with past estimates that the toll bridge over the Des Plaines River would open in spring 2023.

Houbolt Road leading to the I-80 interchange is being widened to four lanes. The Houbolt Road interchange is being rebuilt into a diverging diamond interchange that should be better equipped to handle increased truck traffic going to and from the bridge.

The bridge provides a new connection to the CenterPoint Intermodal Center and the intermodal yards in Joliet and Elwood. Giving trucks a direct route between CenterPoint Intermodal Center and I-80 is seen as one way to get semitrailers off Route 53 and other roads where trucks share the lanes with local motorists.

Ruddy’s comments on the project came as the Public Service Committee approved a proposal to allow Houbolt Road Bridge Joint Venture Parntership to post signs on city property to direct truckers to the bridge.

Houbolt Road Bridge JVP is building the bridge and will operate it, although it will be owned by the city of Joliet.

CenterPoint Properties, a partner in the bridge joint venture, did not respond to a request for comment on the likely opening date for the bridge.

While construction on Houbolt Road and the interchange will continue after the bridge opens, improvements at the Route 6 intersection will be ready when the bridge opens, Ruddy said.

Truckers reaching the intersection will be able to proceed on Houbolt Road to I-80 or turn onto Route 6 to go to the I-55 interchange in Channahon.