The Illinois Department of Transportation has one job down and one more to go.

After finishing construction on the eastbound railroad crossings near Washington Street in January, work began Monday on the westbound tracks near Main Street.

According to Greg McLaughlin, project support engineer for IDOT District 9, work on the westbound crossings was scheduled to start after the first project was completed, but the crews were called to help recover a train derailment near Fulton, Ky.

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“Hopefully, it will be done soon,” McClaughlin said. “For the better part, we’re hoping for no delays. You never know when a track emergency will come up, though. Railroads experience track trouble during this time of year from the shrinking and expanding that goes on between the winter and the spring.”

The construction work this week will raise the railroad tracks, making them even with the pavement and replace the concrete panels, over which motorists drive.

The Federal Highways and Railways Safety Program will fund the project, which is expected to cost $330,000.

The eastbound crossings project was $10,000 more expensive than the westbound crossings project at $160,000 because of the concrete used to replace one of its tracks.

Although motorists have seen some delays while driving in the area, McLaughlin said he does not expect trains to be off schedule over the next week.

“On this set of rails, there shouldn’t be any delays because of the fact that there are two sets of lines here,” he said. “And therefore all train traffic is able to be detoured over for the most part.”

McLaughlin said it is not uncommon for there to be problems with traffic flow when detour routes have been designated, but if motorists use the marked detours, they should be able to get through because of traffic signals.

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