4th of July Tollway Travel Guide

Avoid trouble spots along Chicago-area interstates during your 4th of July travels.

Provided by the Illinois Toll Highway Authority. The Tollway is restricting construction activity and suspending all temporary construction lane closures from noon on Tuesday, July 3, through 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 5.  Some work may continue behind barriers to keep work on schedule, but this work will not impact traffic.  Major construction areas where drivers should plan for slower traffic during the holiday include:  Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294/I-80)  Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88)  Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) A 45 mph speed limit is in effect 24/7 in all construction zones regardless ofwhether workers are present. The minimum penalty for speeding in a work zone is $375.  For more information:

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New Closure: SB I-55 Off-Ramp at U.S. 30

The ramp closes at 9 tonight and reopen at 5 a.m. Thursday; the closure is needed to install detector loops in the pavement.

It may look almost identical to the announcement posted Tuesday, but there's yet another ramp closure tonight. The southbound ramp from Intertstate 55 to U.S. 30 will be closed 9 tonight until 5 a.m. Wednesday to install detector loops in the pavement and fiber optic, according to a village of Plainfield news release. The work is being done by the Illinois Department of Transportation and is similar to the work that was completed last week on the ramp from U.S. 30 to northbound I-55. Detector loops are located below the pavement and can sense when a vehicle is waiting, alerting the traffic signal to change. They can also be used to monitor traffic.

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I-55 Off-Ramp for U.S. 30 Closed at 9 Tonight

The eight-hour closure continues through 5 a.m. Thursday and is needed so IDOT can install pavement detector loops and fiber optic cable.

For the second consecutive day, an Interstate 55 off-ramp giving drivers access to Plainfield is being closed eight hours tonight. The U.S. 30 exit ramp from northbound I-55 will be closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. so that the Illinois Department of Transportation can install detector loops in the pavement as well as fiber optic cable. The same type of closure occurred overnight Tuesday at the southbound I-55 exit to Illinois 126 and last week at the northbound I-55/Route 126 exit. According to information provided by the Plainfield Public Works Department, here is what IDOT is installing: "Detector loops are located in the pavement at traffic signals. They sense when a vehicle is waiting and send a signal to the controller to change the light…

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Winter Road Conditions, Traffic on IDOT, Patch

An IDOT Web site allows motorists to see which roads are clear of ice and snow and which aren't. A new Patch feature lets drivers look at live traffic via Mapquest.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the entire Chicago-area, forecasting 3 to 5 inches for Plainfield to start falling after 9 a.m. Thursday. If that's not bad enough, later afternoon and evening will be even more fun when the snow starts blowing at gusts of up to 30 mph, creating windchills that will make 13-degree temps Thursday night feel like 2 below. While we can't make the winter weather go away, Plainfield Patch and the Illinois Department of Transportation have tools that will make driving a little less of a surprise. IDOT's Getting Around Illinois Web site is designed to give area motorists a glimpse into snowy or icy road conditions around the state. And you can get a look at live traffic …

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And St. Mary Immaculate Officials Said, 'Let There Be Traffic Lights'

The three-way signal, which will make it easier to get in to and out of the Route 59 church parking lot, is to be turned on Friday.

  A Christmas miracle? That's a bit of a reach, but there's no doubt some St. Mary Immaculate parishioners will think they've received an early Christmas present when new traffic lights in front of the church are activated Friday. Efforts to get the three-way signals began more than two years ago, and were accomplished only after the church did its own traffic study, agreed to pay for the installation, and enlisted the support of Plainfield officials and state Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego). It was a year ago that the church learned the Illinois Department of Transportation had agreed to their request. Construction started in September, and it took more than three months just get the lights ordered and delivered, said the Rev. David Medow, St. …

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Joel Craig

5:36 pm on Friday, December 23, 2011

Agreed. There is no reason that the school should be trying up this street when they have loads of parking on the other side. Residents are forced into the other lane to try and bypass the line of cars, not to mention those making U-turns in private driveways. This is no longer the quaint little neighborhood school it once was; as one of the largest churches and schools in the state, they need to…   more ›

PSHS Pushing Peer Pressure to Improve Teen Driving

The school is using a $2,000 grant to educate students about the dangers of speeding, drinking and driving, and distracted driving.

Plainfield South High School senior Kayla Heriaud believes teenagers who just completed their driver’s education and behind-the-wheel training courses should be safe drivers. However, she knows that’s not the case. Too often, she said, teens are more interested in how they look – rather than how they act – behind the wheel, and that leads to distracted driving that can have devastating effects. Heriaud is one of a handful of Plainfield South students who have helped create a teen-driven driving program in which they try to teach their peers about the dangers of distracted driving. “It’s a subject near and dear to me,” Heriaud, 17, said. “I’ve lost people in car accidents due to reckless driving. I don’t think anyone else should go through …

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U.S. 30 Widening Hearing Set for Wednesday

IDOT will be accepting public input on widening plan at open house-style meeting at Plainfield Village Hall.

A public hearing on widening and improving U.S. 30 from Interstate 55 to Illinois 59 will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Plainfield Village Hall, 24401 Lockport St. The event, being conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation, is seeking input on increasing the the lanes of traffic from one to two in each direction between I-55 and Renwick Road and building a median for the entire stretch. The proposal also calls for curbs, gutters, multiuse paths, sidewalks, drainage and intersection improvements. The project is included in IDOT’s 2012-17 Proposed Highway Improvement Program as part of the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program. The hearing will be in an open-house format, meaning anyone who's interested in learning more or …

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Work Under Way for St. Mary's New Traffic Signal

Randy Jessen, the village's superintendent of public works, said the light should be operational by the end of the year.

Work has started this week on the installation of a traffic signal at the Route 59 entrance to St. Mary Immaculate Parish. Church officials requested that the Illinois Department of Transportation authorize the light because of the huge number of people who attend St. Mary's, the largest Catholic church in Illinois. The church has agreed to cover the construction expense. If all goes according to plan, the traffic signal will be operational by the end of the year, said Randy Jessen, Plainfield's superintendent of public works. The Rev. David Medow, St. Mary's pastor, has said some 10,000 cars will enter and exit the church parking lot at 15629 S. Route 59 every weekend, a volume so great they've had to hire police officers to direct …

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Completion of the Route 59 Widening Work to be Celebrated July 29

The village is planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony and is asking all merchants to hold a sale in which they use "59" in their prices.

July 29 is a day most Route 59 merchants -- and all Plainfield residents -- have been anticipating for more than two years: The completion of the Route 59 widening project. The village will celebrate the day with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and are encouraging all businesses in town to hold a weekend sale in which they price items using the number "59." In other words, 59 cents, 1.59, $59 and so on. In addition to the ribbon-cutting event, the village will also pay to publicize the weekend sale, said spokeswoman Amy De Boni, who issued a media release on the idea. The bulk of the $89 million widening project, in which Route 59 went from a two-lane to four-lane thoroughfare from Shorewood and Joliet through Plainfield wrapped up last October …

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About Town

Renwick Bridge, River Road Widening Work Could Begin This Fall

Plainfield Township and IDOT are close to striking a deal to buy the last property needed for the $9 million road and bridge facelift, officials said.

Engineers hope to break ground on the $9 million River Road widening and Renwick Road Bridge projects yet this fall. That’s what project engineer Roger Wright, of Hutchinson Engineering, said in a brief telephone interview with Plainfield Patch. The Illinois Department of Transportation hopes to receive bids by August and get construction under way on the facelift for Renwick Road between River and Drauden Road by October, he said. “We would like to have contractors working onsite by this fall,” Wright said. The Plainfield Township Highway Department recently purchased property at 15836 S. River Road from Donald L. Johnson, trustee of the Donald L. Johnson Trust, for $355,000, according to information from attorney Jean Kenol. The Johnson …

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