NORMAL - If your morning commute includes the College Avenue bridge near Epiphany School and Anderson Park, you may want to consider a new route or give yourself some extra travel time.

Work to replace the bridge is expected to begin Monday morning. The $1.1 million project will reduce westbound traffic to one lane and close eastbound lanes until at least August. After that, only one lane will be available in each direction until the project is finished in late November.

During the first phase of the plan, eastbound College Avenue traffic will be detoured to Linden Street north to Willow Street, Willow Street east to Fort Jesse Road, Fort Jesse east to Towanda Avenue, and Towanda south to College, said town engineer Gene Brown.

Brown said drivers also may use Vernon Avenue or other roads to travel east-west.

Local traffic will be maintained on College Avenue between Linden and Towanda but eastbound traffic will be prohibited between Grandview Drive and Veronica Way.

Westbound drivers also will be given a detour option if they want to avoid the one-lane road during the first phase of construction. No vehicles wider than 9 feet will be able to use the westbound College Avenue lane. The marked detour for westbound traffic will be Towanda north to Fort Jesse, Fort Jesse west to Willow, Willow west to Linden, Linden south to Mulberry, and Mulberry west to the Mulberry/College coupling at School Street.

Timed to Illinois State University plans

During the first construction phase, Brown said, workers will build two lanes on the south portion of the bridge. The target date for completing that project is Aug. 1. When that work is done, those two lanes will be open - one for westbound traffic and one for eastbound traffic - and the north portion of the bridge will be closed so construction can start on it.

When the project is finished, there will be two eastbound and two westbound lanes and a protected sidewalk on each side.

Brown said the work was timed to avoid Illinois State University graduation and end-of-school-year move. The first phase also is timed to be completed before students return in the fall.

But the work will affect Anderson Aquatic Center and park users. Brown said vehicles will not be able to go eastbound from either of the parking lots at the facility.