Route 59 Closings In Shorewood Start This Week

SHOREWOOD, IL — The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that an ongoing project to reconstruct the Interstate 55 interchange at Route 59, in Joliet and Shorewood, will require lane closures on Route 59 beginning Tuesday.

To complete the work, Route 59 will be reduced from two to one lane in each direction approaching the intersection. Motorists can expect delays and should allow extra time for trips through this area.

The $59.3 million project will convert the existing partial-access interchange at I-55 and Illinois 59 into a full-access, diverging-diamond interchange. East Frontage Road will be relocated and reconstructed to provide necessary distance from the interchange and auxiliary lanes will be added to I-55 between the Illinois 59 and U.S. 52 interchanges to improve safety by better accommodating vehicles entering and leaving the interstate.

. Pedestrian access will be built across I-55, with the addition of new sidewalks and a multiuse path to connect with the local system of trails. New lighting and modernized traffic signals will be installed. Noise and retaining walls will be built along I-55.

The project is anticipated to be completed fall 2024.

According to IDOT: The region is anticipated to benefit through planned developments in the area, including the mixed-used Rock Run Crossings, that are projected to account for $1.4 billion in economic impact and produce $53 million in state and local tax revenue. The annual benefits once the improvements are finished are estimated at $181 million in economic impact and $72 million in state and local tax revenue.