Community Corner

Road Closures Planned as Electromagnet Continues Trek to Fermilab

Overnight closures are planned this week on I-355, I-88, and several state and DuPage County roads as a 50-foot-wide particle storage ring is transported from Lemont to Batavia.

Written by Amanda Luevano 

Overnight road closures are planned across DuPage County this week as scientists from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory move a giant electromagnet from Lemont to the laboratory site in Batavia.

The 50-foot-wide particle storage ring arrived in Lemont on Saturday, and was moved from a barge to a specially designed truck, which will began a three-night trek to Fermilab on Tuesday night.

The ring is one of the widest loads ever to be transported across roads in Illinois, according to Fermilab officials, so the proposed route takes it across the widest roads available, including portions of the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355), the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), and several state and DuPage County roads.
 
The ring will be transported at night, using rolling roadblocks to close off intersections. The closures may affect those traveling during the overnight hours this week and drivers are advised to leave early in order to arrive at their destinations on time, officials said.
 
Crews will be working ahead of the moving truck to remove signs and other obstacles in the roadway, and will replace them as soon as the caravan moves through. Roads will be re-opened as soon as possible, and traffic disruption will be kept to a minimum.

Wednesday, July 24/Thursday, July 25, beginning at 11:30 p.m.

  • Boughton Road (87th Street) to Veterans Memorial Parkway (I-355)
  • I-355 to Route 56 (Butterfield Road): To minimize the impact on Illinois Tollway customers, rolling, full closures of the northbound lanes between Boughton Road (87th Street) and Butterfield Road (Illinois Route 56) are scheduled to begin at midnight on Thursday, July 25. Lanes will be restored as soon as they become available, with Illinois State Police District 15 pacing traffic. All activity on the Tollway will clear overnight and normal operations are assured by 5 a.m. on Thursday, July 25.
  • Illinois Route 56 to Illinois Route 53: State routes will have rolling closures paced by Illinois State Police, with the traffic on those routes reopened to the public as soon as possible. All operations on state routes will be cleared no later than 5 a.m. Crews will remove and replace signs, lights and signals to facilitate the move.
  • Illinois Route 53 to a parking location just south of Illinois Route 56.

Thursday, July 25/Friday, July 26, beginning at 11 p.m.

  • Illinois Route 53 to Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88): State routes will have rolling closures paced by Illinois State Police, with the traffic on those routes reopened to the public as soon as possible. All operations on state routes will be cleared no later than 5 a.m. Crews will remove and replace signs, lights and signals to facilitate the move.
  • I-88 to Illinois Route 59: To minimize the impact on Illinois Tollway customers, rolling, full closures of the westbound lanes between Illinois Route 53 and Illinois Route 59 are scheduled to begin at midnight on Friday, July 26. Lanes will be restored as soon as they become available, with Illinois State Police District 15 pacing traffic. All activity on the Tollway will clear overnight and normal operations are assured by 5 a.m. on Friday, July 26.
  • Illinois Route 59 to Ferry Road: State routes will have rolling closures paced by Illinois State Police, with the traffic on those routes reopened to the public as soon as possible. All operations on state routes will be cleared no later than 5 a.m. Crews will remove and replace signs, lights and signals to facilitate the move.
  • Ferry Road to Eola Road: Rolling and full closures of Ferry Road from Route 59 to Eola Road are scheduled to begin at1:30 a.m. Friday, July 26 . Lanes will be restored as soon as they become available, with Illinois State Police pacing traffic with assistance from County and local law enforcement. All activity will clear overnight and normal operations are assured by3 a.m. on Friday, July 26.
  • Eola Road to the Fermilab site: Rolling and full closures of Eola Road, from Ferry Road north to the Fermilab site, located at Butterfield Road/Illinois Route  56, are scheduled to begin at 2 a.m. on Friday, July 26. Lanes will be restored as soon as they become available, with Illinois State Police pacing traffic with assistance from County and local law enforcement. All activity will clear overnight and normal operations are assured by5 a.m. on Friday, July 26.
On Friday afternoon, the ring will move the final few miles across the Fermilab site. The public is invited to come celebrate the ring’s arrival along with Fermilab scientists and employees, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Wilson Hall.
 
Fermilab is coordinating the move with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Illinois Tollway, Illinois State Police, DuPage County and local municipalities. 

Details of the Big Move are posted at http://muon-g-2.fnal.gov/bigmove, along with a GPS-powered map that shows the location of the magnet on its journey. The most current updates will be posted to that site, both before and during the move along the Illinois roadways.


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