Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) joined workers on the Kennedy Expressway rehabilitation, industry partners, and community leaders today to thank the public for their patience and celebrate the early completion of the project. Major reconstruction and renovation efforts were made possible with a $169 million investment through the governor’s historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program. Completed more than a month ahead of IDOT’s Thanksgiving deadline, the three-year project fixed 50-year-old bridges, rebuilt the reversible lane system, added new lighting and other safety features, and restored pavement that had been prone to failures and frequent emergency closures. The Kennedy Expressway accommodates more than 275,000 cars and trucks per day, making it the second-busiest expressway in Chicago, behind the Dan Ryan (I-90/94), which carries more than 320,000 vehicles a day on average. All the expressway’s mainline lanes were finished by Oct. 5, but the entire project was completed this morning with the reopening of the Ontario Street ramps and Wilson Avenue exit. Construction on the inbound lanes took place in 2023, with the express lanes and reversible gate system fixed in 2024, and the outbound lanes refurbished in 2025.