Westbound Harrison open this week for commencements

UIC officials are working closely with the Illinois and Chicago departments of transportation to keep streets and intersections around campus clear of Circle Interchange construction during commencement week.

Although the Morgan Street Bridge over the Eisenhower Expressway remains closed, westbound Harrison Street will be temporarily re-opened. It is scheduled to close again May 12.

The noise level will increase around campus May 13, when the demolition of the Harrison Street Bridge is scheduled to begin. Walsh Construction is expected to work 24 hours a day to complete the project, which has been delayed several times.

Girders from the Halsted Street Bridge will be removed beginning May 12, requiring a complete shutdown of Halsted Street. The work, which will be done from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., is expected to be completed May 15.

The Halsted Street traffic switchover was implemented April 16 to perform utility work at the intersection of Halsted and Harrison Streets. The work will take longer than expected because of unforeseen problems with a Commonwealth Edison electrical duct. Completion is expected May 16.

The $475 million reconstruction of the Circle Interchange, a complex connection that links Dan Ryan Expressway to the south, the Eisenhower Expressway to the west, the Kennedy Expressway to the north and Congress Parkway to the east, began in September 2013 and is expected continue for at least four years.

The interchange is one of the most congested highway freight bottlenecks in the U.S., according to the American Transportation Research Institute and the Federal Highway Administration.

More information about the project’s impact on streets around campus is available online.