Nighttime the right time for construction?

IDOT WEIGHS PROS AND CONS BEFORE TURNING ON THE LIGHTS IN WORK ZONES.

Most road construction in Illinois happens when the sun is shining. But if you think you’re seeing more activity in work zones when the moon is out, you’re not alone.

Overnight construction, which used to happen almost entirely in the Chicago area not too long ago, is seeing more widespread use by the Illinois Department of Transportation. With IDOT in the midst of delivering the largest capital program in state history with Gov. JB Pritzker’s $45 billion Rebuild Illinois, there’s more construction than ever happening – and with it comes the likelihood you’ll encounter nighttime construction at some point, no matter where you live. 

Just this construction season, here’s a sampling of projects where overnight work took place:  

• Interstate 80 in Will County for beam placement at the new I-55 interchange.  

• Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94) in Chicago for new sign installation.  

• I-57 in Kankakee County for resurfacing.   

• Illinois 4 (Veterans Parkway) in Springfield for milling and paving.  

• I-64 between Illinois 157 and Green Mount Road in St. Clair County for milling and paving.  

• I-39/U.S. 20 in Winnebago County for new sign trusses.   

• I-80 in La Salle County for pavement patching and resurfacing.  

• I-57/74 interchange reconstruction project in Champaign County.  

The decision to work at night is never taken lightly. There are pros and cons that must be weighed before ultimately deciding to go forward. Safety for both the public and workers ranks at the top, followed by ability to do the job efficiently, availability of manpower, impact on productivity, potential cost increases and effects on the surrounding area. 

But in many cases, nighttime really is the right time to get the job done, especially when lane closures are involved and in areas with a lot of traffic.   

“One of the reasons night work was originally considered was because we observed a significant number of the most severe crashes in work zones were occurring at the end of queues,” said Safety Programs Unit Chief Juan Pava, who’s based out of the main office in Springfield. “Moving work operations to overnights allows us to reduce congestion through work zones and eliminate unexpected speed changes that tend to be contributory factors to rear-end crashes. We have seen changes in the percentage of rear-end crashes compared to the overall number of work zone crashes which may be an indication that the implementation of night work is yielding safety results.” 

Avoiding significant traffic impacts isn’t the only potential benefit. Overnight work also brings cooler temperatures, meaning a more comfortable environment for workers in the summer as well as better conditions for curing concrete and painting. 

In rare cases, moving some work to overnights while keeping a day schedule can accelerate a construction timeline. 

A handful of projects typically lend themselves to afterhours schedules:  

• Beam placement or removal for bridges and ramps.   

• Pavement resurfacing and striping.  

• Demolition and drainage work.  

• Overhead structure and signage installation.  

• Tasks that require transporting large pieces of equipment that would normally disrupt traffic during the day.   

“We have always done a fair bit of work overnight due to traffic volumes. That’s when it’s easiest for us to get lane closures on expressways,” said District 1 Construction Engineer Jon Schumacher, who covers Cook and the collar counties. “When working on some of the higher-volume arterial routes, we will discuss working at night with the contractors, but we work closely with the local municipalities to make sure they are okay with it before approving.” 

There are drawbacks to doing work at night that are not so apparent. The biggest is cost, with night work generally adding a 10% to 25% increase compared to the day.   

The logistical challenges of material deliveries, equipment repairs and adequate staffing levels that can be harder to manage outside normal business hours are added expenses. Labor costs are also higher. 

Construction in the overnight hours also can actually slow down the pace of a project and add significant costs due to the need to bring in specialized lighting and equipment. 

Depending on the situation, working at night is not necessarily safer. Lower traffic volumes at night can mean more speeding and drowsier drivers, which puts everyone in the work zone at increased risk. There are also greater numbers of impaired drivers on the road. Even with lighting and reflective gear that’s improving all the time, visibility in nighttime work remains a concern. 

Sometimes the public isn’t always on board, either. A project in Champaign County shows the kind of balancing act that takes place for night work demonstrating both sides. 

This spring, crews had to demolish an old overpass on I-72 located near a residential area, which meant closing I-57 below. Working at night was the best and safest option.   

District 5, which is overseeing the project, did extensive outreach to make sure the public understood what needed to happen and why, relying heavily on press releases, website communication, digital message boards and social media. 

“It was a major safety issue – we can’t be in a situation where debris is falling on cars,” said District 5 Construction Engineer Jason Smith. “With I-57 carrying more than 34,000 cars and trucks a day, we had a high-traffic area to manage. By working at night, we reduced impacts on drivers and finished faster. Unfortunately, the noise did keep neighbors awake, which did get us some negative feedback. But whenever we work at night, the plan is well thought out, the risks have been weighed and the benefits truly outweigh them.” 

At the end of the day, IDOT’s goal remains the same: To deliver projects as safely, quickly and cost-effectively as possible, minimizing the impact on the public while using innovative strategies to keep Illinois moving forward – day and night. 

 EXPLORE THE FULL GALLERY OF NIGHT WORK PHOTOS.