Metra and the Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that ongoing construction of Metra’s Englewood Flyover bridge will require overnight lane shifts and lane closures on the Dan Ryan Expressway (Interstate 90/94) starting July 18 through August 7.

The flyover is a new rail bridge over the Dan Ryan and over a set of Norfolk Southern freight tracks near 63rd Street that was built to eliminate conflicts between Metra trains on the Rock Island Line and freight and Amtrak trains on the NS tracks. It opened last fall.

Earlier this year, the old railroad bridge over the Dan Ryan was torn down to make room to widen the new bridge with an additional bay to provide for future expansion on the Rock Island Line. The lane shifts and closures are needed as Metra’s contractor erects steel girders onto concrete piers for the new bay.

The work will cover several phases. During each phase, the inbound changes will be in effect from midnight to 7 a.m. on the Saturday night into Sunday morning periods and midnight to 5 a.m. on all other nights. The outbound changes will be in effect from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. on the Saturday night into Sunday morning periods and 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. on all other nights.

• July 18 to July 20
  •  All inbound traffic will be reduced to one express lane between 71st and 63rd streets. The ramps from the Skyway to the Dan Ryan will be closed. Skyway traffic will be detoured to the State Street exit, then north on State Street to 55th Street and west on 55th Street to the Dan Ryan.
• July 25 to July 31:
  • All inbound and outbound express lanes will be closed. Traffic will use the local lanes.
• August 1 to August 7
  • All outbound local lanes will be closed between 55th and 69th streets. Traffic will be shifted to the outbound express lanes. Entrances to the outbound Dan Ryan will be closed at 47th, 55th and 63rd streets. Traffic will be able to enter the outbound Dan Ryan at 43rd and 67th streets. Traffic to the Skyway from the express lanes will be maintained with periodic stops.