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Chicago's Kennedy Expressway construction delayed again. Here's when lanes should reopen.

Reopening of express lanes on Kennedy Expressway delayed
Reopening of express lanes on Kennedy Expressway delayed 02:06

CHICAGO (CBS) — It's no secret that drivers are frustrated that the reversible lanes on the Kennedy Expressway are still closed, and on Tuesday the Illinois Department of Transportation announced another delay to the project's scheduled end. 

The reversible lanes are now set to reopen the week of Jan. 13, a significant delay from the original deadline of Oct. 31. Earlier, the agency projected the project to reach its completion by the end of fall, or later this week.

IDOT said crews are still testing new technology and the last step of testing will begin on Jan. 2. 

A billboard along the Kennedy Expressway is using the holiday season to seemingly troll the Illinois construction project that has yet to be completed. 

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In response to the delay, an Old National Bank billboard now carries the message: "How does Santa deliver presents on time? He avoids the Kennedy!" The billboard then flips the display to read, "Come on, express lanes—open up!"

In September, the state transportation department tweeted a photo of the signs saying "The finish line is in sight," and again touted a project completion timeline to fall within fall.

Drivers like Chris Cole have been adjusting their schedules around the construction—and they are not thrilled to have to continue even longer than originally expected.

"I try to leave early in the morning and come back late at night," said Cole.

It's a problem too for rideshare drivers like Sirac Ergun.

"I can't wait for this construction to be over," Ergun said, "because it takes forever from the airport to downtown, or from downtown to the airport."

The project, and the delays, aren't just frustrating—they're bad for business for rideshare drivers, as people are led to take the train instead.

"It's just like a nightmare, basically," Ergun said.

So what caused the delay? In a WebEx news conference Tuesday, IDOT said it was software issues, among other things.

"The biggest thing was getting all of the various components talking to each other. The physical installation of the gates was pretty seamless. That went better than we thought," said IDOT Bureau Chief of Construction Jonathan Schumacher. "Getting everything communicating with the new software program, making sure everything is operating is where we ran into problems, so getting the cameras integrated into the system was the biggest challenge out of all of that.  

IDOT said a recent crash on the Ontario/Ohio Street Feeder Ramp to the Kennedy had nothing to do with the delay in reopening the express lanes.

CBS News Chicago also wanted to know why IDOT waited to let the public know about updates to the project.

"We understand the frustration. The main reason we had to wait so long is we actually had a firm date we could provide in the last six weeks or so. Without a firm date in mind, it would have been very difficult to convey an actual message of when the lanes would reopen—so that was the reason for the delay in providing notice," Schumacher said.

Express lanes on Kennedy Expressway won't reopen until January now 02:03

A timeline for the Kennedy reconstruction project

The overall $150 million Kennedy Expressway reconstruction project—which affects I-90/94 from the Edens Expressway split to Ohio Street, is taking place across three construction seasons. The inbound Kennedy was finished in 2023, while work on the outbound lanes will start next spring.

The focus this year has been the express lanes and the Reversible Lane Access Control, or REVLAC system. The REVLAC system controls the gates and block off certain ramps and determine whether traffic is in bound or outbound.

The work on the express lanes involved installing 120 gates, integrating local and remote controls, replacing several cameras, and modernizing electrical components, fiber-optic cables, and terminal blocks. New overhead signs went up, and a new paint job and new LED lights came to Hubbard's Cave between Grand Avenue and Wayman Street.

IDOT officials said the work on the outbound lanes next year should take just about as long as the current portion, because the reversals have two lanes, and the outbounds have four. 

For more information on the Kennedy Expressway construction project, visit IDOT.Illinois.gov

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