Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025:
Three-year I-24 bridge project begins next week
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will begin lane restrictions on the bridge carrying Interstate 24 over the Ohio River at the Illinois-Kentucky state line beginning Monday, March 3, weather permitting.
The three-year I-24 Ohio River Bridge Rehab Project is being led by IDOT. Lane restrictions will continue in 2025 until Oct. 14. Project dates for 2026 and 2027 will be announced by IDOT at a later date.
To accommodate the work, I-24 traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction to install a temporary concrete barrier along the centerline. Width restrictions will be in effect.
The lane reductions are necessary to install a new deck overlay, replace expansion joints, repair structural steel, paint the bridge and resurface pavement.
In a collaborative effort, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is working alongside IDOT to prepare drivers for the upcoming work zone.
IDOT will implement a smart work zone system equipped with message boards to assist in alerting drivers to traffic conditions. The system uses real-time data collected by sensors placed along the roadway to deliver timely and relevant messages. Additionally, IDOT and KYTC encourage drivers to use a dynamic “zipper” merge when entering the work zone, in an effort to minimize queue lengths and improve traffic flow into the lane closure area.
KYTC will reduce the speed limit to 55 mph on WB I-24 from the 7.5 MM and leading up to the I-24 Ohio River Bridge.
The entire project is expected to be completed by September 2027.
KYTC noted that one possible detour for cars, the U.S. 45 bridge into Brookport, Illinois, does not allow semi trucks, as it is restricted to 15 tons with an 8-foot width restriction and 9.5-foot height restriction.
Keith Todd with KYTC District One said if an accident occurs on I-24 that requires a detour, trucks will be required to take the U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge at Cairo, Illinois, which adds about 20 miles and 30 minutes of drive time between Nashville and St. Louis, or 41 minutes and 35 miles between Nashville and Chicago.
[Related: Truckers call out the absolute worst stretch of highway in America]
Final I-17 closure set for this weekend
A stretch of SB Interstate 17 between State Route 74/Carefree Highway and Loop 303 in north Phoenix, Arizona, will be closed this weekend, Feb. 28-March 3, as highway crews work to finish a long-ongoing pavement improvement project.
This is the last scheduled weekend closure for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s I-17 project.
For this weekend’s closure, I-17 SB will be closed between SR 74 and Loop 303 from 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, to 5 a.m. Monday, March 3. SB I-17 on-ramps at SR 74 and Dove Valley Road will also be closed. Drivers should use the detour route on WB SR 74 and avoid streets east of I-17 that are not designed for freeway traffic.
SB I-17 traffic will detour west on SR 74 to SB Lake Pleasant Parkway and use eastbound Loop 303 to return to I-17.
The I-17 project between Happy Valley Road and SR 74 has removed the old, worn top layer of asphalt pavement, and the concrete pavement beneath it has undergone a treatment known as diamond grinding.
The improvement work has created a safer, smoother and longer lasting surface along 6 miles of I-17 north of Happy Valley Road. Recent work has focused on the replacement of steel bridge deck joints that span the width of the freeway. The project started last May.
$900K in cocaine found in load of cucumbers, jalapenos
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility recently intercepted $930,400 of cocaine in a shipment of cucumbers and jalapeños.
On Feb. 22, CBP officers assigned to the facility encountered a commercial tractor-trailer making entry from Mexico. A CBP officer selected the vehicle for inspection, which included utilizing nonintrusive inspection equipment and screening by a canine team.
Physical inspection of the vehicle resulted in officers extracting a total of 28 packages of alleged cocaine weighing 70.28 pounds (31.88 kg) concealed within the vehicle.
CBP seized the narcotics and vehicle. Homeland Security Investigations initiated a criminal investigation.
[Related: Border officers bust cocaine-hauling tanker]
