Ill. Highway Closures Will Stall Key Truck Traffic, Official Says
he Illinois Department of Transportation's plan to begin full closures on some busy interstates south of Chicago starting June 18 could significantly affect the operations of trucking companies in the area, a trucking industry official said.
"This is a huge, huge traveled area and the congestion is going to be incredible," said George Billows, executive director of the Illinois Trucking Association.
"Delivery times could be delayed up to three or four hours, depending on alternate routes," he told Transport Topics.
On average, more than 32,000 heavy trucks travel the affected interstates daily, IDOT said.
"The good news is that we are planning the full expressway closures during overnight hours," Mike Wiater, an engineer with the transportation department, said in a written statement.
But even with the night work, Billows said the closures could create a traffic back up "for five or six miles, including a back up onto the Indiana tollway."
The Kingery Expressway would be closed for periods as brief as 15 minutes and as long as eight hours, IDOT said.
