Construction on the long-closed Kelly Street Bridge in Streator remains stalled due to winter weather, and significant progress likely won’t be visible until spring.

Don Ernat, La Salle County Highway Engineer, said upcoming work will focus on backfilling and roadway reconstruction, but current conditions are not conducive to that type of work.

Construction technically began in September 2025, with crews removing the old structure and setting future work up once the weather warms up.

“They’ve got the precast structure in right now,” Ernat said. “They now have to backfill that structure and do all the roadway work with it, but the type of weather we’re having does not pertain well to that type of construction.”

The bridge over Prairie Creek was closed in 2016 after the concrete supporting the steel piles on the south abutment eroded to the point that they couldn’t support the weight consistently.

It connects Bluff Street to First Street and offers an option to cross Prairie Creek for neighborhoods west of Route 23.

Funding for the roughly $1 million project is shared between La Salle County and the city of Streator, with the county’s highway department covering the majority of costs at $800K and the city contributing $280K from its motor fuel tax funds.

Ernat said the bridge is tentatively expected to reopen in late spring or early summer.