Apr 27, 2023: Opening of Houbolt Road Bridge over Des Plaines river in Joliet, IL

(Satellite)

The bridge opened Apr 27, 2023, but the widening of the existing road between US-6 and I-80 is expected to take a few more months. And they expect some truck stops to be built along that road.

fhwa, Source: Credit to I-80 Coalition

CenterPoint is building this toll ridge to help relieve the traffic jams that were created when intermodal terminals and warehouses were built south of Joliet. I've learned to avoid I-80 in Joliet and IL-53 south of Joliet.

map via wjol

hre

hre-about
"The Houbolt Road Extension leverages the industry’s growth and invests in the community’s quality of life. This added route provides a more direct path for trucks to access I-80, taking traffic off local roads like Route 53 and giving them back to the families and our neighbors who use them every day."
[They should have given the local roads back to the residents a long time ago. And I'm sure the truck drivers will be more inclined to serve the area if they don't have to set in traffic jams for long periods of time.]

 

1:19 video @ 0:57
"Houbolt Road Extension – Girder Raising – July 2022"

Note that much of the "land" that we see in the river in the above video was removed when the bridge was done.

ChicagoBusiness
The $170m project was privately funded. It is the first privately built toll road in Illinois.

This is an excellent example of a modern video style that I don't like --- a bunch of closeups that are so close it is hard to figure out what is happening. For example, I guess this chute is at the end of a conveyor belt rather than a part of a ready-mix truck.

0:53 video @ 0:11

Ozinga posted seven photos with the comment: "In honor of Houbolt Bridge opening today, let’s take a trip down memory lane! Thank goodness for this bridge or we’d have to barge your car across the river like we did with our trucks."

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On one of my trips to Brandon Road Lock and Dam, in order to avoid the I-80 jam, I got of I-355 at US-6, took that West to Briggs Street, then South to Mills Road, then West to IL-53. And there I sat through several traffic-light cycles trying to go North on IL-53 to Patterson Road. Now I take US-6 thorough Joliet to Brandon Road. The stop-and-go traffic in Joliet is better than the stop-and-stop traffic around the intermodal yards.