Expect bridge construction to be a constant in the Peoria area over the next few years.
The Illinois Department of Transportation has $37 million set aside to reconstruct the Cedar Street Bridge extension and interchange over Main Street in East Peoria in a two-year project expected to begin in 2022.
The reconstructed extension would widen lanes and heighten underpass clearances to make navigation easier for truck traffic.
IDOT program development engineer Karen Dvorsky said some of that work will coincide with another major bridge project.
"It will overlap slightly with the McClugage project. That project, traffic will be diverted over to the new bridge in '22, and this project, if all goes according to our tentative schedule, will be starting construction in '22," she said.
The eastbound span of the McClugage Bridge was built in 1948. Construction on a new span is expected to last through 2022. The new span of that bridge is expected to include a pedestrian lane.
"We had a lot of bridges built 50 years ago, so there's a whole bunch of them that are approaching their serviceable life," Dvorsky said.
Neither project would overlap with this year's seven-month total Murray Baker Bridge closure. That's slated to begin March 29.
The Edmund Street exit and entrance would remain open during the work, although IDOT's recommended route would direct Peoria-bound traffic over the newly renovated Murray Baker Bridge instead. Silver Street would also be slightly tweaked, and become right-turn only.
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