Stevenson ramp closures start Wednesday night

(CHICAGO) Several nightly lane and ramp closures are planned on the Stevenson Expressway starting Wednesday night for ongoing Lake Shore Drive interchange construction.

The northbound I-55 entrance ramp from State Street and the northbound I-55 exit ramp to King Drive will be closed from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The right lane of the northbound Stevenson will then close at midnight, and intermittent stops in the northbound lanes will occur starting at 1 a.m., IDOT said. All lanes will reopen by 5 a.m.

Additional closures are planned early Friday. The ramp from the northbound Stevenson to southbound Lake Shore Drive will be closed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., IDOT said. A detour will direct northbound traffic to exit the Stevenson at 18th Street to access southbound Lake Shore Drive.

The closures are part of a stage change during the ongoing I-55/Lake Shore Drive Interchange Reconstruction Project, according to IDOT. In the new traffic pattern, ramps from the northbound Stevenson to northbound and southbound Lake Shore Drive will split further west from the split’s current location, requiring drivers to choose a designated ramp sooner.

Drivers should expect delays in the area and allow for extra travel time, IDT said. The interchange project is expected to be finished in the fall of 2017.