12 days in Jo Daviess county

12 days in Jo Daviess county

District 2 engineers were forced to make a tough choice during the second year of a $31.8 million reconstruction project on U.S. 20 in northwest Illinois. Spend much of the construction season ripping out and replacing culverts in a way that would snarl traffic and add another year to the project? Or close the highway for 12 days and get all the work done at once?

The district chose the latter. Unbeknownst to them, Mother Nature had other plans, bringing waves of rain and even tornadoes.

Work began last summer to rebuild a 4-mile stretch of U.S. 20 from the western limits of Stockton to Logemann Road in eastern Jo Daviess County. Touted as a total rebuild of this narrow, hilly and rough stretch of road, the project included new alignments at the east and west ends.

Workers wasted no time at the start, with heavy trucks and bulldozers grading the surface for the new alignments. Trees were removed. Rock was both excavated and blasted at both ends of the project limits. By November, the footprint of the new alignments was becoming clear, along with the abutments for a new bridge over Rush Creek.

The progress made in just a few short months appeared to ensure the project was on track to meet its late 2027 deadline for completion. But an issue would soon arise that would threaten the project timeline.

While planned work this spring would continue the progress of the realignments, the core of the work would involve replacing 10 culverts in the work zone, where there was not enough space to accommodate both workers and traffic safely and efficiently.

"Doing it this way would have led to a number of stages with one lane of traffic controlled by temporary signals," said District 2 Program Engineer Mike Kuehn. "That would create a major traffic issue in this corridor. Also, the work would likely extend the project through 2028."

District 2 had another solution: A 12-day closure of U.S. 20 that would begin April 13. It was a risky proposition, as the highway carries 4,400 vehicles daily and the closure would happen near the start of tourism season.

Coordinated by Field Engineer Bryan Monk and Resident Engineer Nick Haas, the district planned the closure with its construction staff and contractors in early March and held a meeting with stakeholders in Stockton, located just east of the construction site, later that month.

Once everyone was updated and informed, the 12-day window was locked in. There would be no extensions if the work was not completed, given the closure was occurring at the start of the region's tourism season.

The meeting also established a game plan to communicate with stakeholders and residents in the work zone by sending daily reports noting road closures and open access points. District engineers and contractors also would hold progress meetings every other day the closure was in place.

U.S. 20 was closed the morning of April 13. Illinois State Police were posted at the ends of the work zone to deter people from driving through. Signs were posted directing traffic to a 50-mile detour around U.S. 20. Crews from Freeport-based Fischer Excavating and Helm Construction went to work ripping through sections of the road to prepare ditches for the culverts.

Then came the storms. Several inches of rain, high winds, lightning and confirmed tornadoes went through and near the area. Despite the significant weather impacts, including flooding and downed signs in the work zone, the project remained on track, with many of the culverts completed by the end of the closure's first week.

The storm-free second week was devoted to completing the remainder of the culverts, including the largest one at the west end of the work zone. Crews also patched sections of U.S. 20 to improve the driving surface while construction continued. With all work completed, the road reopened at 3 p.m. Friday, April 24.

District 2 Construction Engineer Matt Hardt said the extensive planning and communication between the district and contractors was key to the project's success.

"The contractors did an excellent job executing the work in a short timeframe with an abundance of inclement weather," he said.

Kuehn agreed, saying "they knocked it out of the park, even under monsoon conditions."

The closure also allowed for additional work to be done that would have been subject to multiple daily lane closures, such as grading the new lanes and constructing a barrier wall that is part of the new Rush Creek bridge.

Work this year will focus on building the new alignments at each end of the work zone and finishing the new Rush Creek bridge. That work is planned to be completed by the end of 2026.

Work in 2027 will rebuild the central section to include left turn lanes and paved shoulders. The entire project is anticipated to be completed in November 2027.