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.