If you commute to work in Urbana or Champaign, you will want leave a little earlier for work starting this Monday. The Illinois Department of Transportation announced on Friday that pavement and guardrail repairs will begin starting this Monday on Interstate 74. Drivers should expect routine delays and drive through the work area at lower speeds.
With IDOT expecting the work to last around seven weeks from start to completion and students returning to the University campus later this month, Sentinel area drivers may want to plan alternative routes on trips into CU to avoid congestion in the construction area starting near High Cross Road just east of Cunningham Avenue in Urbana heading west to Prospect Avenue in Champaign.
Nighttime lane closures will be in effect from 8 pm to 6 am Sunday through Thursday, with at least one lane open in each direction at all times.
IDOT urges drivers to pay close attention to signs in the work zones and obey the posted speed limits to avoid accidents. Motorists should be be on high alert for rapidly changing traffic flow.
Last week, on August 1 near a construction zone on westbound Interstate 74 between Fithian and Oakwood, a semi driver was lost his life while another motorist was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries in two separate accidents. Ronald C. Schaer of Danville, who was hospitalized life-threatening injuries, was ticketed for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
Drivers are asked not use mobile devices and be prepared to avoid workers and construction equipment.
