April 19, 2024
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I-80 ramp in Joliet will reopen

Work near completion on one of two ramps at Richards Street

By Bob Okon
A road closure sign directs Richards Street traffic to use the Briggs Street exit on I-80 eastbound. Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in Joliet.

A road closure sign posted in August directs Richards Street traffic to use the Briggs Street exit on I-80 eastbound. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

One of the Interstate 80 ramps at Richards Street in Joliet is scheduled to reopen Friday morning.

The rebuilt ramp from Richards Street to eastbound I-80 will open by 5 a.m., weather permitting, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Work continues on the eastbound I-80 ramp onto Richards Street, according to IDOT. That ramp, also being reconstructed, is expected to open sometime in early 2023, according to IDOT. Motorists are advised to continue using a detour in which they exit at Briggs Street and reenter I-80 heading west to get to the Richards Street exit ramp in the westbound lanes.

The ramp reconstruction is part of a bridge replacement project that has included eastbound I-80 bridges over Richards Street, Hickory Creek and Rowell Avenue/Canadian National Railroad.

The bridge replacements are part of a larger project in which I-80 is being redesigned and rebuilt in a 16-mile stretch from Ridge Road in Minooka to Route 30 in New Lenox. The project includes six revamped or rebuilt interchanges and replacement of the bridges over the Des Plaines River.

Editor’s Note: The story “Joliet project closes I-80 westbound lanes Friday night” should have stated that the lane closures were needed to resurface the Hickory Creek bridge along westbound Interstate 80.