Cook County Announces 108th Avenue Reconstruction

Road reconstruction on 108th Avenue from 163rd Place to 179th Street will begin on Monday, June 11. Detours will be in place on Friday, June 8 for this project that is slated for completion in early October. This is a Cook County road with the project being constructed by Gallagher Asphalt.

The project limits are from 163rd Place to 179th Street. Within that zone, some omissions are made for already improved areas, including a stretch 900 feet north and 400 feet south of 167th Street. The 167th Street intersection will be re-paved to improve the current poor pavement drainage.

This Cook County project is a full depth rebuild of the road from the base up. The relatively new road areas that were constructed with subdivision construction will simply be resurfaced. The remainder of the original two lane road will be cold-in-place recycled (down through the base) and resurfaced. Cook County expects the proposed improvements to last approximately fifteen years before resurfacing is considered again.

The width of the traffic lanes will not be increased; however, wider paved shoulders will be constructed. Some of the shoulder area will be wide enough to accommodate bicycle traffic. Minor ditch improvements are proposed at varying locations in the project corridor with new culvert pipes needed to correct drainage. Some sidewalk gaps are also slated for completion.

During the 108th Avenue construction, 108th Avenue will be closed for southbound through traffic from 179th to 159th Street and detoured via 159th Street east to 104th Avenue and then south to 179th Street west. 167th Street will remain open for traffic in both directions.

Upon completion of the southbound lanes, the traffic control will be reversed to close the northbound side of 108th Avenue.  However, it should be noted that the direction of travel will always be the same direction.  When the lane switch is made, the direction of travel will not change and therefore this construction zone should be treated as a one-way road at all times. 

A variety of signs will convey the nature of the project and the direction of the detour routing with signs being placed at key intersections. All minor intersecting streets on 108th Avenue will remain open to traffic. Subdivision access streets will be ramped soon after the full depth excavation is complete in order to maintain suitable access at all times.