Palos Heights shared a construction update at its July 21 City Council meeting which will likely impact residents’ commutes for the foreseeable future.
Alderman Michael McGrogan reported that the city had received a report that the 127th Street bridge over the Cal-Sag channel in Crestwood between Route 83 and Cicero Avenue has had its construction period extended for at least another year.
“I think that especially since half the city is on one side of 127th and the other half is on the other it’s important,” McGrogan said. “A lot of residents used to depend on that bridge. The construction makes it very difficult to get around.”
The detour around 127th has created significant traffic delays during busy driving periods on Route 83 as well as on 135th Street in Palos Heights and Crestwood as commuters seek alternate routes to Cicero Avenue and Interstate 294.
According to McGrogan, “It seems when they planned the project, they didn’t plan well enough.”
Completion of the project will likely be delayed until at least summer of 2027, if not the end of the year.
“When they started construction, they started to take things apart and they didn’t realize some of the parts they need to replace are hard to get and they’re on backorder while they wait a while to get them,” McGrogan summarized.
The parts that are needed are made of a specialized steel and needed to be specially ordered and tested before they can be used, delaying significant portions of the work.
City Clerk Shannon Harvey did note though that the report from the Illinois Department of Transportation did explain that some work is still being done on the bridge in the interim.
“It may appear to those driving that work is not happening, but it is happening actually underneath the bridge,” Harvey stated. “Commuters may not see it, but work is constantly being done on it.”
The city said it will continue giving residents updates about the work as it receives them.
Then you need to do something about the lights on cal sag and Cicero. You changed the time on the lights and turning time and cars are cutting off people and coming from other lane to turn. Also the red lights camera with the timing on how many Cars you’re letting get through are going to get moneys in Crestwood pockets and cause accidents at the same time. It always may 6 cars tops from east to west bound.
As a retired Operating Engineer, all I can say is that this is a gross lack of planning and responsibility on many fronts. You mean during the three years the intersection of Rt. 83 and 127th street was under construction, moved, detoured and closed; while traffic was down to two lanes over the bridge, no one (with the DOT) ever notice the gaping rust holes in the vertical beams holding the deck up???? Then, they paid a contractor to sand blast and paint the bridge to only then decide, “Gee, we better fix this before it falls in the Cal-Sag. This is completely unacceptable and a dis-service to the public’s trust in government here. Everyone involved in this debacle should be FIRED and INDICTED for fraud with incompetence. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.
The real problem is that it’s NOT being worked on every day. There are MANY days that there isn’t one person working – there aren’t any construction workers cars on the bridge.
Won’t happen, democratic donors!
This is a shitshow especially at rush hour. The commenter who said at most 6 left turn cars getting through was being very generous. At the very least, to mitigate the detour, the Cal Sag light and the 294 mergers Ttraffic cops should be deployed. It should not be left to the motorists to fend for themselves – many of whom do so recklessly. This is a major artery – address it!!!! That this has gone on for so long with no accountability is shameful and unacceptable.