* CBS 2 earlier this month…

Last spring, inspectors found the Des Plaines River bridge on I-80 in Joliet in such bad shape, it may need to close.

Several months later, nothing has been done to repair the issues.

More than 42,000 drivers drive across Des Plaines River bridge everyday, and the most recent inspection reports reveal serious safety concerns. […]

An inspection in April confirmed their fears.

The westbound bridge was found structurally “intolerable” and the bridge’s span was listed in “critical condition and may require closure.” The bridge earned a sufficiency rating of 6 out of 100.

Anything below 80 is considered “deficient.”

Sheesh. This state, man.

* Local 150 has erected signage by the bridge to advocate for a capital bill…

* CBS 2…

“We’ve let this go too long and now we’re paying the price,” said James Sweeney, president and business manager of the Operating Engineers Local 150. “But the price should not be lives.”

The group took out two billboards that can be spotted by drivers as they approach from either direction.

The billboards read, “Bridge Ahead in Critical Condition” and “Cross Bridge at Your Own Risk.” The intention is to highlight the fact that it has one of the lowest sufficiency ratings in the state.

“The reason we’re making this and screaming as loudly as they are is because it is that dangerous,” Sweeney said.

IDOT told CBS 2 they are working on some short term structural maintenance, and they have plans to rebuild this bridge eventually. But funding for the long term is an issue.

One of the other benefits of this story is that we now have Sweeney on record admitting that his union controls the dark money Fight Back Fund. /s

       

35 Comments - Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:17 am: Sweeny is a real man about town, he is also a candidate for Pritzker’s new Tollway Board https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190226/pritzker-expected-to-roll-out-new-tollway-leaders-this-week - City Zen - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:22 am: I’m usually the first to critique Local 150, but this is smart, effective advertising. - A Jack - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:23 am: That bridge is a menace anyway even if it was in good shape. I have seen a lot of accidents in that area and I only travel it a few times a year. They need to replace that bridge and revise that highway especially the west bound lanes of I-80. However with that much traffic, it will be a headache. Its too bad they nixed the plan for that new highway in that area which would have relieved some of the traffic pressure. - lakeside - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:28 am: Six. Six. Why is this not closed? What? - pawn - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:32 am: I drove across those bridges in both directions yesterday and was very startled to see those signs. They are extremely prominent and worrisome. Coming after the Lake Shore Drive situation, it definitely made me re-think my route. - Roman - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:35 am: Very effective advertising…just like the Fight Back Fund commercials that took down Bill Daley. The political wiseguy-wannabes can talk all they want about Jerry Joyce, Local 150 knocked Daley out of the run-off. - Grandson of Man - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:36 am: The brutally cold weather did a number on Chicago streets. Good on Local 150 for pushing for a capital bill. - Downstate Dem - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:43 am: Odds are that not one Republican will vote for a capital bill. All legislators should ask themselves this each time they come to a bridge in Illinois, “Do I want to drive across this?” - striketoo - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:44 am: Raise the gas tax a nickel a gallon for the next five years. All the money goes to roads and bridges. Not so hard. - OutHereInTheMiddle - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:48 am: Took a look at IDOT’s Bridge Information System online for Central IL comparisons. (http://apps.dot.illinois.gov/bridgesinfosystem/main.aspx) Havana rated @ 46.8%. Beardstown @ 47.8%. Florence @ 17.8%. Wow. Florence is rated 10 pts higher? Of course FLorence has 1500 vehicles a day — not 43,000. - A Jack - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:54 am: @lakeside, its not as if there are alternatives in that area. Its a traffic nightmare. And its a main route for eastbound semis coming up 55. Perhaps Indiana should kick in some money since Indiana is behind making the Dunes a National Park which will cause even more I-80 traffic. - SW - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 10:59 am: When the bridge goes down everyone will point fingers, taxes will be raised to provide a little bit of money, no heads will roll and life will go on as usual for the politicos. It shows how little politicians really care about the average citizen’s safety. - Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:04 am: Maybe we need to convert this to a toll bridge. How much does it take to fix? 42,000 drivers a day should be able to fund it. - SSL - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:05 am: You would need a $.15 increase in the gas tax to get the $6.5B that IDOT says is needed in the next decade. That will put Illinois in the top three in gasoline taxes in the country. Goes nicely with the #2 ranking in property taxes. And given the continued bill backlog and unbalanced budget, get ready for more taxes. If the climate wasn’t so great some people may be tempted to move. - Precinct Captain - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:07 am: This is what can happen folks https://youtu.be/74JNl5n-YdI - Last Bull Moose - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:11 am: Anonymous at 11:04 was me. - A Jack - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:14 am: @anonymous 11:04. I had the same thought since I-80 turns into a toll-way not too much farther east. Just put some new toll booths were 55 runs into 80. Not that I like tolls, but it’s preferable to ending up in the Des Plaines River in February. - wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:15 am: Hopefully, a capital bill is something that the GOP GA caucuses wish to be a part of, for their constituents’ sakes. I suspect some will. But I’m curious as to how they’ll square the circle given their monolithic “no Pritzker taxes” message. It takes more than robotic talking points to fix bridges and roads. - Old Illini - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:24 am: Illinois ranks 38th in state spending per capita. Room for more. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/per-capita-state-spending/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D - East side girl - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:26 am: I’ve lived about a mile away from this bridge most of my life. No major work has been done to this bridge since I was in fifth grade- I’m 41! - Anon - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 11:59 am: While not the cause of the problem, it’s certainly been exacerbated by CenterPoint. - Jake From Elwood - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 12:13 pm: I second Anon at 11:59. There is an obscene amount of truck traffic over that deteriorating bridge. I avoid using that bridge during rush hour for a reason. - City Zen - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 12:28 pm: Concrete has one of the largest carbon footprints. How many windmills and sunbeams will it take to produce enough energy to fix our infrastructure? Because you can’t have both. Not now, at least. - ChrisB - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 12:46 pm: Meanwhile, I was trapped on a Metra train for almost two hours because the switches went down on both the BNSF line and at Union Station. Got to work at 10:30 today. - Huh? - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 1:19 pm: You have to take the structure ratings with a grain of salt. While it is alarming to read that something is “critical condition and may require closure” on an inventory report. We can’t get our hands on the actual inspection report and the associated measurements. There are a number of features that are inspected, depending on the cumulative and weighted rating of the features, it could cause the bridge to be rated a 2 which is the code for “critical condition and may require closure.” This low rating sets in motion a number of actions such as increased inspection frequency, repair plans, and contingency plans. The statement that the bridge is in “critical condition and may require closure” is taken out of context. According to the IDOT website, this rating is for only for a portion of the bridge. You can look up any bridge at the website: http://apps.dot.illinois.gov/bridgesinfosystem/main.aspx Scroll down to the button “View Bridge and Structure Information” It is suggested to search for a particular bridge by county. The blue dots on the map are the bridges. Unless you are an engineer experienced in bridge inspections, please be wary of what you are reading. All IDOT is going is presenting information. Do not take the information out of context. If a bridge is endangering the public, it would be closed. - Blue Dog Dem - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 2:47 pm: We need more toll roads and bridges - Skeptic - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 2:49 pm: “…Not so hard…” See SSL’s post @ 11:05 for why that’s simply not true. - Skeptic - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 3:10 pm: “Its too bad they nixed the plan for that new highway in that area” Umm…if we don’t have money to fix the bridges we have, how are we going to build new roads? - Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 3:18 pm: That “42,000 daily vehicles” is for the westbound bridge only. The eastbound bridge carries a similar number, making the total 85,400 using I-80 to cross the Des Plaines every day according to the IDOT online map, and that bridge is not in much better shape. When they replace these bridges, I’d guess it will take several hundred million. That’s a pretty good chunk of everyone’s 15c gas tax raise as SSL 11:05am’s post references, all in one little location. Not to say anything about the other improvements that are sorely needed on I-80 going east and west of the bridge. - Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 3:20 pm: ===Umm…if we don’t have money to fix the bridges we have, how are we going to build new roads?=== My guess is that they would have to pay for themselves, if there’s no extra $$. CenterPoint is building a new bridge across the Des Plaines River west of this one, with their own money, and will charge people for going over it. http://www.houboltroadextension.com/ - DuPage Bard - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 3:44 pm: Toll road everything, pay the fee to drive the highways. Fee for service. If you don’t want to take the faster, better and nicer road you don’t have to. - wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 3:53 pm: –Toll road everything, pay the fee to drive the highways.– By law, you can’t toll interstate highways built by the federales. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/tollroad.cfm - Taxedoutwest - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 4:05 pm: Wordslinger, there is a loop-hole to toll roads if they are expanded. See the new Elgin-O’Hare as an example. - Chicagonk - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 4:49 pm: Considering how well paid road construction workers are paid in Illinois, maybe they can fix the bridge pro bono. - Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Feb 28, 19 @ 4:59 pm: There is more flexibility to toll Interstates than before. Illinois has a slot in the Value Pricing Pilot Program, among other things. They could toll any existing interstate as long as they enacted congestion pricing, and can add a new tolled lane to any interstate. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/fact_sheets/tolling_programs.aspx Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.