Work is set to begin Thursday on a project that Chicago officials have debated for two decades: how to realign the congested, confusing and high-accident six-corner intersection where Damen, Elston and Fullerton avenues meet, officials announced Tuesday.
The roughly $60 million project to reroute Elston to the north of the current intersection — improving traffic flow and safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists — will take until late 2016 to complete, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.
The new bypass alignment will create three independent new signal-controlled intersections with Fullerton, Damen and existing Elston avenues.
And the notorious traffic congestion in that section of Bucktown will likely worsen through the 2015 construction season, officials said.
Starting Thursday, weather permitting, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction on Damen and Elston north of Fullerton to accommodate partial demolition of the Mid-Town building, at 2020 W. Fullerton Ave., CDOT officials said. In addition, a section of land owned by Vienna Beef will be needed for the project, officials said. The sausage maker will be relocating its plant to Bridgeport.
Mid-America Real Estate Group has proposed constructing a more than 100,000-square-foot retail development, including a parking lot, on part of the Vienna Beef property facing Damen north of Fullerton. But the city has not approved the plan. While providing an economic boost, the plan has stirred concerns over traffic.
After the demolition, lane closures will be shifted on Damen and Elston while new sewers and water lines are installed, CDOT said.
Additional lane restrictions will be announced in late June or early July on Fullerton just west of the Chicago River for utility connections, CDOT spokesman Mike Claffey said. One lane will be maintained in each direction through the work zone, he said.
Recommended alternate routes include Diversey, Ashland, Clybourn, Webster and North avenues, CDOT said. Recommended bicycle route alternatives are Diversey to Clybourn to Cortland.
The realigned section of Elston is expected to be completed in spring 2016, but the project will not be “substantially completed” until November 2016, CDOT said.
Drivers going through the existing six-way intersection at peak times can waste up to seven minutes in heavy traffic just to get through traffic signals, according to CDOT traffic studies.
“This project has been needed for some time,” Claffey said. “In addition to the bad congestion, it’s a high crash-rate intersection.”
The Damen-Elston-Fullerton intersection handles more than 70,000 vehicles daily and has ranked among the 10 worst city intersections for crashes since 1999, according to CDOT. In the current configuration, the short distance between traffic signals creates driver confusion and the skewed intersection with tight turning radiuses makes it difficult to execute safe turns, traffic engineers said.
Earlier redesign plans, dating back about 20 years, focused on building either a Fullerton overpass or to tunnel Fullerton under the intersection. Those ideas were abandoned due to the high cost, aesthetic concerns and the tunnel’s proximity to ramps to the Kennedy Expressway.
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