A major construction project on Interstate 74 is set to begin Monday, March 28, 2016.
Drivers will have to keep in mind that there will be closures to lanes, ramps and interchanges from south of 7th Avenue to the Mississippi River bridge during the construction.
The project involves an overhaul to many components of the roadway and crews will be repairing the bridge deck, repairing structural steel, replacing expansion joints, and placing a new wearing surface. Crews will also be working on the 3rd Avenue/River Drive and 7th Avenue interchanges.
While this is all going on, drivers will only be able to use one 10-foot-wide lane in each direction, said the Department of Transportation.
At first, the two outside lanes will be closed and drivers will use the inside lanes. The ramps at 3rdAvenue/River Drive will also be closed and because of this traffic entering and exiting I-74 will be detoured to the 7th Avenue interchange.
In Iowa, the southbound entrance ramp to I-74 from State Street will be closed (this will last the entire project). Illinois-bound traffic will have to use the Grant Street entrance ramp.
Once the expansion joints are replaced, the available lanes will switch from the inside to the outside. The interchange ramps will open back up at this point.
Finally, crews will work on the 7th Avenue ramps and expansion joints at the 7th Avenue interchange. At this time, the southbound exit ramp from I-74 to 7th Avenue and the entrance ramp from 7th Avenue to Iowa-bound I-74 will be closed.
While the 7th Avenue ramps are closed, traffic will be detoured to River Drive.
The project was expected to be done by mid-August.