Drivers in Jacksonville may have noticed some road work on Morton at Clay street. Crews have been working for a few days and motorists have had to deal with lane restrictions and the closure of Clay Street.
Jack Cosner, the Superintendent of Utilities for the City of Jacksonville, explains why the crews are working on the intersection.
“We had a water valve that was leaking, over the winter and we needed to replace it. We had to go in there this week and cut it out and replace it. That’s why there is so much barricades and traffic control there, cause it was right out in the middle of the intersection.”
Cosner explains the process the crews have to go through to replace a water valve.
“We had to dig three different holes to get to our water main. What you gotta do is what you call a line stop. We do one on each side of the valve. What it does is plugs off the main, then you dig down and cut the valve out and put a new valve in, then you pull the line stops off and the water will flow on through again. So we had to dig three holes through the concrete on Morton Avenue, which is pretty thick.”
Cosner says if everything goes according to plan, Morton and Clay will be open to traffic on Monday.
“The valve has been replaced, we poured the concrete patches this morning. Right now if everything goes well, all the barricades will be gone Monday morning sometime. Right now we are just gonna wait for the concrete to set up. If everything is cool, they will come in Monday morning and start picking stuff up and then open it back up.”
The Illinois Department of Transportation reminds drivers that work zones are dangerous and you should use caution and obey speed limits when driving through them.