With work complete on the Interstate 74 Murray Baker Bridge, the Illinois Department of Transportation is focusing its attention to a new span three miles northeast.
The hallmark of the $167 million project is a new eastbound U.S. Route 150 bridge to usher traffic across the Illinois River from Peoria to East Peoria. Ceremoniously announced by former Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018, work began in 2020.
“Right now, we are really in our second main year of construction,” said Illinois Department of Transportation construction engineer Nick Volk.
“The most noticeable thing people have seen out there is the temporary trestle -- what looks to be the new bridge -- it’s not the new bridge. It’s considerably lower, and that’s just to facilitate the contractor’s access in order to build the piers and complete the remaining portions of the bridge after that,” he said.
The current 70-year-old McClugage Bridge span is nearing the end of its usable life, said Volk. The new structure requires 22 piers. Two additional piers are necessary to connect northbound Route 29 to U.S. Route 150.
“We are mostly focused on the Peoria side right now, building the piers, and we have one of them complete with three other ones being worked on on a given day, as far as being above ground,” Volk said. “We have two other ones that are being worked on where we’re putting the foundation units and the drilled shafts -- the piling -- that sort of work.”
The current eastbound McClugage span won’t come down until the new bridge is open, but Volk said motorists will see new traffic configurations in the coming weeks.
The biggest traffic shift involves the current Route 29 ramp to McClugage from the Peoria side. It will shutter and eventually be torn down. A detour will utilize the current southbound ramp. Volk said this construction phase will likely begin in April.
“What we’re going to do when that happens is that that traffic will actually use the stoplight right there and will turn as a normal left turn with an arrow and go up the ramp that the current southbound traffic uses,” Volk said.
Volk acknowledged reducing traffic has been a bit of a nightmare for motorists in the past. He said IDOT is taking measures to improve traffic flow during construction.
“What was decided to happen was that eastbound U.S. 150 will go down to one lane and the ramp -- because we’re doubling the amount of traffic on it -- it will be a free flow on” said Volk.
“So, there will be no stop sign up there; eastbound 150 will have its own lane and then the ramp traffic will have its own lane. And when you don’t have that alternating merge where the through traffic is stopping and letting someone in, we expect the traffic will flow considerably smoother.”
Volk said the construction traffic pattern will not change until the new bridge is open.
While the new three-lane McClugage span is the centerpiece of the project, Volk said IDOT also is taking the opportunity to improve traffic flow on both sides of the bridge.
“We’re also redoing the bridge along eastbound 150 over Route 29. That’s the partially completed bridge that’s just sort of sitting out in space right now waiting for the larger (McClugage) bridge to be completed. And we’re doing some ramp reconfiguration over in East Peoria. So, it would be the exit ramp from eastbound 150 to Illinois 116 -- I’ll call that southbound going toward East Peoria. Ultimately (on) that ramp, the stop sign goes away and that ramp traffic gets a free flow lane all the way down to almost …Centennial to merge into traffic.”
Volk said the new bridge is “state of the art” with three lanes of traffic and wide shoulders. A multi-use path will allow for pedestrian and bike access.
“That path connects to the Rock Island Trail, so in theory you could actually get on the trail over by the Uftring Auto Mall (in East Peoria) and ride the trail all the way up to Toulon-Wyoming area if you wanted to,” said Volk. “It’s a nice piece of connectivity for our bicyclists and pedestrians.”
The McClugage bridge project completion is slated for the end of next year, with cars possibly driving on the new span in early 2023. But Volk said weather could hamper progress.
“I will throw a big asterisk at that because the river level has so much to do with our ability to work,” said Volk. “So, should we get flooded similar to what we had last year, it will delay a lot of the work that we can complete on the new piers as far as the foundation work goes.”
The latest National Weather Service spring flood outlook through the end of May predicts a better-than- 60% chance the Illinois River will top Peoria’s 18-foot flood stage -- although no major flooding is forecast. Still, construction crews are prepared for the worst.
“Their temporary trestle is built above the record-high flood stage,” Volk said. “So, if they can find any way to work in high water, they intend to.”
A total replacement of the westbound McClugage bridge from East Peoria to Peoria isn’t on the books, but Volk said IDOT is evaluating repair options.
To learn more about the new span and monitor progress via webcam, visit McClugageBridge.com.
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