The latest installment of “interstate closure bingo” has begun in Champaign.
You can now cover the space on your bingo card that says “northbound I-57 to westbound I-74” as that interchange is now closed and will remain so for about a year, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The state’s official notice of the closure encourages motorists to use a detour that directs them to the Market Street exit — more than a mile north of I-74 — and then back to southbound I-57 to westbound I-74. (Shhhhh … don’t tell anyone, but there’s a faster detour. This is just between us — we don’t want anyone to clog up this faster version — but you can take the Olympian Drive exit about a half-mile north of I-74 instead of driving all the way up to the Market Street exit.)
The closure is the next phase of a years-long project to completely reshape the interchange from every direction. Most recently, the southbound I-57 ramp to eastbound I-74 has been closed for an extended period.