http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=35066
Central Ave. bypass project gets green light
Paul Merrion Aug. 07, 2009
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The Illinois Department of Transportation plans to proceed with $170.4 million in design, engineering, right-of-way land acquisition and other pre-construction work on the bypass, which would create a new north-south route across a large rail yard on the traffic-congested Southwest Side.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
will be in Chicago on Monday along with Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago, House Speaker Michael Madigan and other state and local officials to announce the project’s go-ahead.
“It’s been a long time coming,” says a spokesman for the congressman, who is pushing for construction money for the bypass in an upcoming federal transportation bill, which is stalled in Congress.
The project is expected to cost a total of $300 million to $600 million when completed, according to an IDOT spokeswoman, depending on final cost estimates. It would
connect Central Avenue between 63rd and 87th streets, taking pressure off Cicero and Harlem avenues. No final decision has been made on
whether it will be an overpass or an underpass, according to a Lipinski aide.
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