The Interstate 80 reconstruction project in Joliet is entering the “home stretch” and will involve the most complex construction of the corridor, according to Illinois Department of Transportation officials.

A media briefing was held Thursday to discuss the results of the I-80 project so far and where it is headed.

The overall project involves redesigning and rebuilding 16 miles from Ridge Road in Minooka to Route 30 in Joliet and New Lenox, according to IDOT.

More than 30 bridges will be rehabilitated or replaced, including those over the Des Plaines River, according to a statement from IDOT on Thursday.

“The project is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2028, with landscaping, bridge demolition and miscellaneous work extending into 2029,” IDOT officials said.

I-80 is one of the “most important east-west corridors in the country,” said Isssam Rayyan, IDOT project implementation engineer.

In Will, Grundy and Kendall counties, I-80 carries more than 80,000 vehicles a day, and a quarter of that is freight traffic, he said.

The transformation of I-80 is “already visible,” Rayyan said.

“Today, about 60% of the interstate reconstruction is substantially complete, and we anticipate nearly 80% will be completed by the end of this year,” Rayyan said.

Rayyan said IDOT is “steadily turning” a 50-year-old interstate into a “modern, safer, more reliable corridor.” This year represents the “final stretch here in Joliet” for the project, he said.

On Monday, the construction of the new Chicago Street interchange in Joliet is scheduled to begin, and it is the last of the six interchanges to be rebuilt along the project corridor, according to IDOT.

The work will require lane closures in both directions of Chicago Street, between McDonough Street and Doris Avenue.

Construction is expected to begin later this spring on the Des Plaines River bridge, resulting in a reduction of I-80 to two lanes in both directions between Richards and Center streets, according to IDOT.

The new bridges will be built just north of the existing structures. Traffic will shift to the new bridges in the westbound lanes in early 2028 and the eastbound lanes by the end of 2028.

The upcoming work on I-80 in Joliet will have “significant impacts” on traffic, said Eric Ray, IDOT construction area supervisor.

“This is the most complex portion of the entire 16-mile project, and with overlapping contracts, this section through Joliet will function as one coordinated construction zone over the next few years. With that being said, this is also the home stretch,” Ray said.

Ray said motorists should expect “lane shifts, ramp closures, detours and periods of heavy congestion.”

What will be finished in 2026

IDOT officials listed some of the work that will be completed this year:

• Newly rebuilt interchanges at I-55, Larkin Avenue and Briggs Street in Joliet

• New flyover ramp carrying southbound I-55 traffic to eastbound lanes in I-80

• A third lane in each direction of I-80 opening from Ridge Road to Larkin Avenue and from Richards Street to Route 30

IDOT officials provide more information at I80will.org.