Foster to be closed in both directions for about 2 years as bridge over Kennedy Expressway is replaced

by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI

It’s going to take about 2 years.

The Foster Avenue bridge over the Kennedy Expressway will be torn down, with work and detours expected through June of 2026, with the street closed in both directions until then.

Work on the $25 million construction plan is scheduled to begin next month.

Alderman Jim Gardiner (45th) said that traffic would be shut down in both directions and that ramps would be closed at different times but not for the entirety of the project. Work entails bridge replacement, drainage and ADA improvements. He said that the work will begin Nov. 6.

“The Foster Ave Bridge will be a total replacement with all lanes being shut down,” said Zach Urbanski, project engineer with IHC Construction. “The WB entrance ramp will be closed starting March or April, but that will only be for 100 days. Getting off WB will be open basically all the time. There might be some nightly closures.”

Urbanski said that he is aware that traffic might spill over onto residential streets, however “those detours were determined by IDOT.”

“The work has to be done. It is a 50-year-old bridge. It’s going to look beautiful. It’s going to liven up the neighborhood,” Urbanski said. According to the National Bridge Inventory, the bridge was built in 1958, and has been deemed “structurally deficient.”

Eastbound traffic on Foster will be rerouted north on Nagle Avenue, then east on Bryn Mawr Avenue to Milwaukee Avenue, then south on Central Avenue to Foster, according to a detour plan from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Westbound traffic will be rerouted in reverse, north on Central to Milwaukee, Milwaukee to Bryn Mawr then west to Nagle, and south on Nagle back to Foster.

To get on the Kennedy westbound, drivers will need to head to the Bryn Mawr Avenue ramp when the Foster ramp is closed. The inbound ramp toward Downtown will remain open, Urbanski said.

Urbanski said that drivers will be able to exit onto Foster to go east but drivers who want to exit and go west onto Foster will have to take the next exit at Bryn Mawr, then take Nagle back to Foster.

Pedestrians walking west on Foster will have to make their way south on Central, west on Goodman Street, north on Major Street to Carmen or Avondale, to Menard Avenue, and then back to Foster. The same thing applies in reverse for pedestrians walking east to get across the bridge.

It’s about a 10 to 15 minute walk. Longer if you’re driving around it.

IHC Construction Companies has worked on several area projects, including the Milwaukee Avenue bridge/Metra Grayland station work, the Illinois Veterans’ Home Chicago in the Dunning neighborhood, the Interstate 55 and DuSable Lake Shore Drive interchange, several bridges including the Ravenswood station, and various schools, libraries, reservoirs, factories, roads, and other infrastructure projects in the state, according to its Web site.

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