Kirby bridge over I-57 on agency's list

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CHAMPAIGN — A bridge that has caused anxiety for drivers on Kirby Avenue is slated for an $8 million rebuild that may resolve some of those concerns.

Rebuild Illinois, a multi-year, multibillion-dollar infrastructure improvement plan, kicks off next year, but it will be at least 2026 before work begins on the Kirby bridge over Interstate 57, between Duncan and Staley roads.

“I’ve had to travel over that bridge in dense fog and in white-out snow weather conditions, and it is frighteningly narrow when you can’t see ahead of you,” said Susan Johnston, president of the homeowners association of the Glenshire subdivision just west of the bridge, who has lived in west Champaign for 34 years.

That’s long enough to have been around the last time the Illinois Department of Transportation completed a major project involving the bridge.

Back then, Johnston thought it was a mistake not to make it wider.

“It’s frightening when there are pedestrians or bicycles on the bridge and you can’t see until you come to the top of the bridge,” she said. “You can’t see what’s on the other side.”

Kensil Garnett, Region 3 engineer for IDOT, said that the previous project was just rehabilitation work, extending the life of the bridge until it had to be replaced.

“We have reached the point in time where this needs to be done,” Garnett said.

There is a light system for pedestrians and cyclists on the bridge, where they press a button before they cross to warn motorists of their presence.

Johnston said most people use the lights, but not everyone does, so she never really knows if there will be someone on the bridge.

If she could put in one request for the rebuilding project, she said, it would be to add sidewalks to both sides of the bridge — something like the Windsor Road overpass over I-57.

It’s a bit too early to make any promises, but Kris Koester, administrative services manager at Champaign Public Works, said preliminary discussions about the project are already happening.

“I do believe wider is on tap, along with a more complete street design — at least that’s been in any discussion I have heard,” Koester said.

The city may add funds or create a different project to bring the street on either side of the bridge “up to city standards” as well, Koester said.

Beyond that, most of the project will be up to IDOT.

Rebuild Illinois projects are scheduled for 2025-30 and are currently split into two groups — those to be completed in 2025 and those set for 2026-30.

The Kirby bridge overhaul landed in that second group, but Garnett said a consultant has already been hired to design it and that IDOT hopes to start construction early in that timeline.

“This structure is one of several that cross over I-57 that were scheduled to be replaced,” he said. “We worked with local officials on the order of replacement of the structures.”

Of course, the bridge will not be available for use while it is being rebuilt.

Garnett said IDOT will share information about traffic impacts when the work is closer to starting.

“The contractor performing the work will be required to hold a meeting prior to actual construction beginning to explain their tentative progress schedule for completing the work, which will include how traffic will be handled for the project,” Garnett said.

Johnston remembers dealing with traffic during the last construction project, and she didn’t think it was that bad. She just had to remember to take a different route to work.

“When that bridge is closed for a few months, I’ll have to go much farther to go to the grocery store,” she said. “But I don’t mind at all, because it has to be made safer. I don’t mind the inconvenience for a period of time in order to get a safer bridge.”