The new Route 390 western access road to O’Hare won’t be complete for two years, but work gets under way this week on the Wood Dale Road Interchange, which will provide full access to the new all electronic tollway.
The $26 million interchange, part of the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project, is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2017, according to the Illinois Tollway. It replaces the signalized intersection at Thorndale Avenue and Wood Dale Road, and provides access to Route 390 via eastbound and westbound frontage roads.
Work begins with construction of a new bridge to carry Wood Dale Road traffic over Route 390. Excavation work to build the new Route 390 under the Wood Dale Road Bridge is scheduled to begin this fall. Work will begin south of Thorndale. Ramp and frontage road construction begins in 2016.
Weather permitting, lane closures on Wood Dale Road begin this week to provide a work zone for advance preparation. Traffic on southbound Wood Dale between Mark Street and Sivert Drive will be reduced to one lane. In the northbound lanes, traffic will be reduced to one lane at the intersection of Wood Dale and Sivert, and then open back to two lanes north of Thorndale.
A 45 mph speed limit is now in effect 24/7 on Thorndale, and a 30 mph speed limit is in effect on Wood Dale. Construction zone speed limits are also in effect.
Up to 12,800 vehicles use that section of Wood Dale Road daily, and as many as 37,500 vehicles on Thorndale travel through the intersection daily.
In addition to new ramps and bridges, the project creates room for a future multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path on the northbound side of the bridge. The city of Wood Dale is funding construction of sidewalk and bike path improvements.
The first phase of the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project includes the new Route 390, scheduled to be complete by the end of 2017; improving the existing Route 390, formerly known as the Elgin O’Hare Expressway, from Lake Street to I-290; and extending Route 390 east to Route 83 along the current Thorndale Avenue with bridges and frontage roads for local traffic.
Estimated cost of the overall project is $780 million.
This article was originally published on the Chicago Sun-Times.