Jefferson St. bridge in Joliet will be closed for ‘weeks’

The Jefferson Street bridge in downtown Joliet likely will remain closed for weeks, a state transportation official said Friday.

Just how many weeks has not been determined, and the Illinois Department of Transportation has not yet set a timetable for reopening the key entryway to downtown.

The drawbridge was shut down Wednesday because of an electrical short that knocked out one of two motors that raise and lower the bridge.

“I doubt it will be a matter of days,” Eric Ray, IDOT construction area supervisor for South Cook and Will counties, said Friday when asked how long it will take to put the bridge back in service. “It will be a matter of weeks if not more.”

Ray said IDOT is still determining the repairs needed to put the bridge back into service.

The Jefferson Street bridge, which also carries U.S. Route 30 through Joliet, is the main eastbound route for traffic coming into downtown.

Its closure comes at a time when the Cass Street bridge carrying the main westbound route through downtown, also doubling as U.S. 30, has been reduced to one-lane as it await repairs.

The downtown drawbridges were built in the 1930s and require constant repairs.

The breakdown at the Jefferson Street bridge could affect the schedule for two other bridge maintenance projects planned this year.

The Ruby Street bridge was scheduled for closure for maintenance in June. The Cass Street bridge was to be closed by early September and through all of 2026 because of structural steel corrosion that has led to reduced weight limits and limited traffic on the bridge.

“We are waiting to get an estimate on time now,” he said. “There are some parts that will need to be replaced.”

Because of the age of the bridges, parts fabrication can take months.

Ray said some parts will need to be fabricated, but iDOT has not yet determined whether the fabrication process will take weeks or months.

IDOT spokeswoman Maria Castaneda noted that the agency will try to close no more than one downtown bridge at a time.

“Unless there is some emergency, we don’t plan to close more than one bridge at a time,” Castaneda said.

The Jefferson Street bridge closure could “shift everything” in terms of the other scheduled bridge closures in Joliet, Castaneda said.