City of Joliet

Olympic Boulevard/Houbolt Road Improvements

Expanding Busy Corridors

The Olympic Avenue and Houbolt Road corridors in the city of Joliet are home to Joliet Junior College and Joliet Regional Airport along with a casino and many industrial centers. Many businesses, the forest preserve district of will county, and residential neighborhoods are also part of this heavily traveled corridor.

Providing New Access and Connectivity

The Olympic Boulevard/Houbolt Road improvements project is a continuation of improvements along the Houbolt Road corridor including the recently completed Houbolt Road Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) connecting the area to I-80. The improvements along the corridor address safety and congestion and benefit the economic development opportunities for the region.

Infrastructure Improvements Create Connections

This project extended and resurfaced Olympic Boulevard and a new bridge was constructed crossing the rock run creek. The roadway infrastructure improvements in this area provide critical connections and service the 310-acre Rock Run mixed-use development, new IL 59/I-55 interchange, and reconfigured I-80/Houbolt Road DDI. Olympic Boulevard’s extension to the west provides access to I-55/IL 59 interchange.

New Multi-Use Path

The project includes a new traffic signal at the entrance to Joliet Junior College and construction of a multi-use path connecting the west end of Olympic Boulevard to the existing Rock Run Trail running along the west and south sides of Joliet Junior College. The path included a new spur connecting the college to the extension of Olympic Boulevard and a bridge to cross a drainage ditch.

Reconstruction, Traffic Signals, and Land Acquisition

New sidewalk was also added the full length of the Olympic Boulevard improvements. The improvements on Houbolt Road included full reconstruction from Rock Run Trail to Olympic Boulevard including new traffic signals at both intersections. The project also included
roughly 20 parcels of land acquisition.

Design Engineering

Civiltech completed the Design Engineering of the Olympic Boulevard improvements except the bridge over Rock Run Creek. The Civiltech Design team also completed all traffic signal design, all Maintenance of Traffic design, and coordination of land acquisition services.

Construction Engineering

Civiltech provided Construction Engineering for the entire project. The project was split into three contracts. An advance tree removal contract was completed to meet environmental clearances limitations. The roadway work was split into two contracts with the first contract to initiate the Rock Run Bridge and Olympic Boulevard connection so access could be opened for the development.