Joliet this week took another step toward the eventual construction of the Houbolt Road bridge and road improvement project.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a $928,000 payment for a wider railroad crossing on Houbolt Road.

The funding, while approved by the city, will be paid by the state of Illinois.

“The city will not be paying for that,” Public Works Administrator Greg Ruddy told a council committee. “We’re acting as a pass-through agency. There’s no cost to the city.”

The payment will go to CSX Transportation, which will widen the crossing to accommodate a widened Houbolt Road, which is being expanded from two lanes to four lanes.

New warning lights and cantilever gates also will be installed at the crossing.

The Houbolt Road improvements will accommodate the bridge to be built over the Des Plaines River and provide a connection between the CenterPoint Intermodal Center and
Interstate 80.

The state will construct a new diverging diamond interchange at I-80 and Houbolt.

CenterPoint Properties, which is building the bridge, has not announced a groundbreaking date.

However, a company official last month said he expects construction to begin in September.

The project will start with bridge construction.,