IDOT begins opening lanes on Interstate 55 on Thursday afternoon

The stretch of Interstate 55 between Illinois 143 and the rest stop near Hamel will have both lanes open in both directions starting Thursday afternoon, IDOT says.

The Illinois Department of Transportation said, weather permitting, all lanes will be open and remain open through the weekend. Starting Monday, there will be intermittent daytime lane closures to allow for pavement marking. Those markings should be complete by Nov. 1, IDOT says.

The project to replace the decks of the two bridges of I-55 over the Madison County Bike Trail started in October 2017 and was originally expected to be complete by August of this year.

The area has been the site of at least six fatalities since construction began, the latest was in July. The first and most deadly was in November 2017 — a 10-vehicle crash that led to the death of one woman a month later.