The City of Hammond regrets to inform its residents and visitors that the Chicago Street Reconstruction project between Calumet and Columbia will remain closed to through traffic through the winter. Local traffic will be allowed to park in parking spaces and be provided limited access to the roadway during that period but will not be allowed direct access to Calumet and Columbia. The City intends to resume the pre-construction one-way traffic pattern in the area immediately surrounding Irving Elementary School to ease congestion for parents, students and busses.
During the course of construction, it was determined that certain utilities were not in a condition or location as expected and therefore require relocation. It is for this reason the contractor will be unable to complete the paving necessary to reopen Chicago Street fully to traffic until the asphalt plant reopens in the Spring.
“Leaving this road closed for the winter was not an easy decision,” said Mayor Thomas M. McDermott, Jr., “I reviewed this with my City Engineer and, due to the unforeseen circumstances and the lateness of the construction season, I’m convinced that this decision is in the best interest of the City and our citizens.”
Local residents should expect to see crews working on the project for the next few months, weather permitting.