After nearly a year of delays, east and westbound traffic on North Aurora Road shifted to the inside lanes between Fairway Drive and Frontenac Road this week to accommodate the replacement of curbs and gutters, sidewalks and streetlights.
Motorists will have access to businesses and neighborhoods despite the adjustment, and traffic will be able to pass in both directions.
Construction on this phase of the project is expected to be finished by late summer.
The $10.1 million roadway project between Frontenac Road and Weston Ridge Drive started in April 2021 but ran into a series of unforeseen delays.
An equipment operators strike last summer held up work for seven weeks.
Once the strike was settled, work started back slowly as the materials needed for the job had been exhausted and the contractor was unable to find alternative materials that would meet Illinois Department of Transportation requirements.
As a result, construction was pushed into 2023. But the work that was to be done this spring was delayed after the paving contractor’s liquid asphalt supplier experienced an explosion, officials said.
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The goal is to expand the existing three-lane roadway to five lanes — two traffic lanes in each direction and a center turn lane — to make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Once the roadway is completed, the second $14.5 million phase of the North Aurora Road underpass project will begin.
The 110-year-old Canadian National/Wisconsin Central Railroad bridge is to be replaced with a new structure spanning the newly expanded five traffic lanes.