MOLINE, Ill. — Construction crews have been working on Avenue of the Cities in Moline between 18th Street, near Browning Field, and Interstate 74 for months. There is eastbound traffic right now, but there is still more work to do.
Construction Manager Darrel Preston with the City of Moline said there is still about a month's worth of work left to be done before the project on the Avenue of the Cities is complete.
Crews closed the Avenue of the Cities between Browning Field and I-74 in July in both directions, and Preston said the headache for drivers is expected to end soon.
Preston said crews are waiting for the freshly poured concrete to reach a certain strength standard before cars and trucks can drive on it.
Two-way traffic in the west-bound lanes was supposed to start this week, but the concrete had not reached the needed standard for traffic.
Preston said he is confident the work in the west-bound lanes, where crews have been working for months, will be complete by the end of Labor Day weekend.
After that work is complete, the next step in the project includes re-configuring the traffic pattern so there is one lane open for drivers in each direction, using the west-bound lanes for this configuration.
Preston said having that two-way traffic open was not part of the original project plan, but crews want to alleviate as many headaches and traffic changes as possible for drivers.
That traffic pattern change to have one lane of traffic in each direction using the then-finished two westbound lanes gives crews enough space to work in the eastbound lanes. That is the road drivers have used heading from 16th Street towards I-74 for the past several months.
Crews will use that space to finish the sanitary and storm sewer work, water main work, repaving the road and creating a new sidewalk on that side of the street.
The project, in its entirety, should be completed by mid to late September, according to Preston.
Preston said the Avenue of the Cities in this spot should not need any maintenance for many years once this work is complete.