Prior to its reconstruction, the interchange struggled to perform under its original 1958 design, resulting in congestion for the majority of the day and frequent unsafe conditions, according to the governor's office. Named after Jane Byrne to honor the former Chicago mayor and the first woman elected to lead a major American city, the interchange serves almost 400,000 vehicles a day, one out of four of those being trucks, Gov. Still, the benefits outweigh the construction struggles.
Unexpected issues with utilities, water, and poor soil added to the cost and time early on COVID, supply chain and labor issues more recently. In order to keep traffic moving, maintain access to the CTA, to UIC and all the city events, the construction schedule had to be re-evaluated. "The goal was to get it done as fast as possible and at the time we were doing the project at the planning stage and during the planning stage that's only 30% level of engineering detail," said John Baczek, IDOT program development engineer. It was slated to be complete in 2017, with a price tag of $535 million. The project took nearly a decade to complete.Īfter eight years, the project to overhaul the entire interchange, where three expressways meet, is now substantially complete.
The original Circle Interchange was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and had no major overaul until the reconstruction project began in 2013. Pritzker attended a ribbon cutting.ĬHICAGO (WLS) - There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the long-awaited completion of the Jane Byrne Interchange on Wednesday. The Chicago traffic report is expected to improve as the Jane Byrne Interchange is considered complete.
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