Motorists are advised about a bridge replacement project that’s already frustrating area motorists in Iroquois and Kankakee counties. And the work is just the beginning of several months of using an alternate route.

I-DOT has received several calls, most of them complaints about the announced and already-posted road closure just to the south of the I-57 exchange on Kankakee’s south edge.

The biggest complaint is from truckers, who, because of heavier loads, can’t use the rural routes nearby. They’ll be forced to use the interstate, where overpass work is already slowing things down.

Local traffic is still accessible, according to I-DOT.

The detour on U.S. Route 45/52 has already triggered an accident. A semi driver, forced to find an alternate route took a turn too wide on private property Tuesday morning. State Police reported the driver hit a tree. The driver was not injured.

A second semi was involved in a separate crash later at N. Wichert Road at 500 North Road. The site was south of Momence at what’s commonly known as Kinney’s Corner.
Police said the truck carrying a 75,000-pound cylinder when it took the curve too fast, which caused the truck to roll over.

94.1 FM, WGFA