Ryan Hosler photo
The Downer Place bridge, seen here, will undergo a complete renovation beginning next month after the Illinois Department of Transportation deemed it structurally deficient.
By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
A major bridge construction project is underway in Aurora, a project that is providing many jobs for area contractors.
Temporary traffic signals were installed this week on Benton Street as part of the future detour route for the Downer Place bridge construction project, which is scheduled to begin in February and take about nine months to complete.
Contractor D Construction out of Coal City will be handling most of the major duties.
“We put the bid in through Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). We prefer to have Illinois contractors and keep it local,” said Chris Lirot, project engineer for the city of Aurora.
Lirot doesn’t have an estimate on how many jobs are provided by the project, but said it is large scale for Aurora.
“There will be a lot of different crews in there at different times, carpenters, electricians, laborers, everyone,” he said. “For the city of Aurora, this is one of our biggest projects. We’ve been working on it and preparing it for more than five years.”
Slated for demolition are both Downer Place bridges spanning the Fox River. They were originally built at the turn of the 20th century, have exceeded their useful life and have been deemed structurally deficient by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
New bridges will be built for the $7.83 million project, of which 80 percent was paid for through federal grants. The City also received a $500,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help offset Aurora’s share.
When both bridges are shut down on Downer Place, traffic will be detoured south along Broadway Avenue to Benton Street, which will be designated a two-way road between Broadway and River street throughout the construction period. Motorists can head west on Benton Street, north on River Street and then continue west on Downer Place to complete the detour.
Temporary traffic signals will be installed this month along Benton Street at Broadway Avenue and River Street, but will not be activated until construction starts. Flashing red lights and stop signs will be placed along two Stolp Avenue intersections in February at Downer Place and Benton Street.
Motorists also are encouraged to use New York Street and North Avenue to bypass the Downer Place construction zone. Lirot said his team has put a lot of thought into easing traffic tensions during the construction.
“We’re going to try and make this as painless as possible in terms of traffic flow,” he said.
Residents, business owners and other community stakeholders wanting to monitor the progress of the Downer Place bridge project will be able to find information through several outlets, including:
Website: Visit the City’s website at www.aurora-il.org.
Email Updates: People can receive email updates on construction progress by visiting the City’s website at www.aurora-il.org. Under the “Get Your City News” box, click the “Email Updates” link and sign up.
Social Media: Updates will be provided on the City’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, which can be found on the City’s website at www.aurora-il.org.
ACTV: Tune in to Aurora Community Television Ch. 10 to view updates on the scrolling news bulletin boards.
Customer Service Center: Call the City’s Customer Service Center between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 630-256-INFO.
Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.