Motorists traveling between Scott and Pike Counties may have give themselves a little more time to get across the river starting on June 1st.
The bridge crossing the Illinois River on state route 106 at Florence, Illinois will be closed for repairs beginning on Monday June 1st and will remain closed until sometime in August.
Public Information Officer for IDOT, Paul Wappel says, the work being undertaken has needed addressed for some time now.
“The project will include improvements to the road and the bridge surface. There will be repairs and preventative maintenance to the bridge structure itself, and the installation of new floor drains. The proposed repairs are intended to maintain the current legal load posting and to keep the bridge open to traffic until a replacement structure can be constructed.”
Wappel says the closing of the bridge will not impede barge traffic on the river, however vehicle traffic will be completely closed off during the work.
“A detour will be posted that utilizes Illinois 106, Illinois 100, I-72 and U.S. 54. The cost of this repair is $828,000 for what is going to be done June 1st through, we anticipate reopening sometime in mid-August.”
Wappel says the project is part of the Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program introduced by Governor JB Pritzker last year.
The program calls for a full replacement of the bridge, later in the five year plan at a cost of $84.2 million.