Start planning your alternative routes now.
North Aurora Road between Pennsbury Lane and Frontenac Road will be closed to traffic for about four months beginning Tuesday, March 31, according to a joint news release from the cities of Naperville and Aurora.
During the closure, motorists will be directed to use Diehl Road as an alternative route. Local traffic will be permitted on North Aurora Road between Route 59 and Frontenac Road and between Eola Road and Pennsbury Lane.
There also will be access to businesses in the area, including All Seasons Ice Rink and the Illinois Air Team Vehicle Emission Testing station, and to the Route 59 train station parking lot on the north side of the railroad tracks, the release said.
The closure is part of the North Aurora Road Improvement Project, an intergovernmental construction project being done by Naperville Township, the cities of Naperville and Aurora to improve pedestrian and bicycle access and decrease traffic congestion and crashes in the area. The project started in 2006.
Phase two of the work, which includes replacing the 110-year-old Canadian National/Wisconsin Central Railroad bridge over North Aurora Road with a new structure that will accommodate five traffic lanes, started last fall. Phase one was completed nearly three years ago and included the widening of North Aurora Road from Fairway Drive to Frontenac Road.
During the upcoming closure, crews will be relocating a large gas pipeline, moving ComEd distribution lines located in the middle of the roadway and reshaping the road to “ensure there is enough vertical clearance between the road and a temporary railroad bridge to allow for continued rail traffic during future stages of the project,” according to the release.
Work on the temporary railroad bridge is expected to begin late this summer. North Aurora Road will be closed between Pennsbury Lane and Frontenac Road again later this fall. Additional details about that portion of the project will be available closer to the expected date.
The anticipated completion date for the entire project is 2027.
Phase two of the project is expected to cost $52 million, of which $25 million is coming from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s Surface Transportation Program Shared Funding and $15 million from the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Grade Crossing Protection Fund.
To date, Naperville, Aurora and Naperville Township have invested about $6.5 million in easements, land acquisition, engineering, environmental services and utility coordination. Phase one of the project cost about $10.1 million, officials said.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
