The six-month shut down of Interstate 255 in St. Clair County for a roadwork project will begin at 12 a.m. Saturday.
If you are out on the highway late Friday night, be on the lookout for the closures at the I-255 interchanges with Illinois 15 and Illinois 157.
The Illinois Department of Transportation expects the 3.5-mile section between Illinois 15 and Illinois 157 to be closed until July 31.
Motorists on Illinois 15 will still be able to enter the highway to go north on I-255. Those coming from Illinois 157 will be able to go south on the interstate.
The transportation department suggests using Illinois 157 as an alternate route in St. Clair County.
The detour route is listed as Interstate 55 in Missouri.
Fans of the Gateway Grizzlies baseball team in Sauget will be able to access the team’s stadium via Mousette Lane, which goes under the section of I-255 that is closed.
Crews will resurface the roadway, repair bridges, add new lighting and make signage and drainage improvements.
By closing the highway instead of trying to do the work while keeping lanes open, the state expects to save $10 million and finish the project in six months instead of two years.
Shutting down the highway is also safer for motorists and road construction workers by eliminating traffic backups and confusing lane shifts in a work zone, according to the transportation department.
Dawn Johnson, a spokesperson for IDOT, suggests metro-east residents “plan ahead” if they need to travel near or around the work zone.
The project costs $65.4 million and there are two general contractors: Keeley & Sons and Killian Corp., which are both located in the metro-east.
To pay for the project, the state is using Rebuild Illinois funds, which come from increases in the state’s motor fuel tax, the cigarette tax and vehicle registration fees approved by lawmakers in 2019.
For more information, go to the Illinois Department of Transportation’s webpage titled “I-255 Rehabilitation Project.”
In 2020, the agency shut down sections of the roadway in the metro-east for nine months for roadwork. This $67 million project repaired a seven-mile stretch of the highway from Collinsville Road in southern Madison County to Illinois 15 in St. Clair County.
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat. Mike Koziatek is a reporter and editor for the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
