Butterfield Road Widening Expansion Construction

In July, I made this post thinking that IDOT was getting ready to begin work on widening Butterfield Road.  The large black pipes I referred to are actually being used to divert water from the DuPage River in order to remove a dam near downtown Warrenville.

It does seem however, that IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) has in fact begun some of the necessary preperation work associated with the Butterfield Road expansion project.  If you travel on Butterfield Road between Naperville Road in Wheaton and Route 59 in Warrenville, you will notice that there are far fewer mature trees flanking the roadway.  In a two-week project, that has since eneded, IDOT removed a large number of mature trees and overgrowth in order to make room for the planned Butterfield Road widening.  Removing the trees has made room for more lanes, utilities, and landscape improvements.  IDOT will eventually be replanting more trees than they removed.

It is estimated that the expansion project cost will near $62 million.  The project is currently in the design phase and will soon be moving into the bidding-phase.  Butterfield Road will be widened and improved from Naperville Road west to Route 59 (a distance of 6.2 miles total).  In addion to more traveling lanes, IDOT will add additional turn lanes, make improvements to intersections, and update many traffic controls to improve the overall flow of traffic, add sidewalks and noise-abaitment walls.  A 30-foot wide grassy median will divide the east and west-bound lanes.  Upon completion, it is expected that the posted speed-limit will be decresed from the current 55 mph to 45 mph.

butterfield road widening
Artist Rendering of Butterfield Road Expansion Through Warrenville

These are the planned project stages:

  • Stage I is to maintain two-way traffic on the existing Butterfield Road pavement and construct the two new eastbound lanes to the south.
  • Stage II is to shift the two-way traffic to the newly constructed eastbound pavement and remove the existing Butterfield Road pavement and construct the two new westbound lanes.
  • Stage III is to move the westbound traffic to the newly constructed westbound lanes and open all of the eastbound lanes to eastbound traffic.

The Butterfield Road Widening Project is slated to begin work in the spring of 2011 and has an expected completion time nearing the fall of 2012.  This means that area residents are facing a year-and-a-half of potential traffic delays and inconveniences due to the construction work.  Though this will not be fun, the end result will be much appreciated and absolutely necessary (and long overdue!).