Four interconnected road construction projects starting this spring will necessitate drastic, temporary changes to the usual entry and exit points to the Loop, and are expected to displace drivers from interstate highways to alternative routes cutting through city neighborhoods.

The projects — resurfacing 27 miles of the Eisenhower Expressway; repair of the Congress Parkway Bridge; reconstruction of north-south Wacker Drive; and installation of a new traffic pattern and streetscape on Congress — will provide critical infrastructure upgrades, engineers from the city and state departments of transportation said at a community meeting Tuesday night.

During the work, which will start April 1, Congress Parkway Bridge will be reduced to two lanes on the inbound side and one lane outbound. East of the bridge, Congress will be reduced to three eastbound and two westbound lanes during rush hour.

Ramps connecting Wacker and Congress will be closed. Lower Wacker will be reduced to one lane this year; the upper side won’t go under the jackhammer until 2011. One lane will be taken out on the Eisenhower during its repaving. Ramps to Congress from the Dan Ryan will be closed.

With traffic on the Eisenhower-Congress axis expected to slow and impact patterns on other expressways during the construction, IDOT and CDOT are promoting a series of routes on city streets as alternatives. There is hope that commuters consider public transportation and telecommuting options as well, said Dan Burke, who works for CDOT.

“The first few days people are figuring it all out and then things settle down,” said Michelle Woods, an outreach worker from the city transportation department.

Roosevelt Road, between Sacramento on the west and Michigan on the east, has been identified as an inbound and outbound alternative route. IDOT is also recommending drivers traveling west to consider taking Adams Street to Ogden, cutting south on that street to the Eisenhower.

Those driving into the Loop will be directed to cut through the Near West Side and West Loop on Warren, a boulevard that turns into Washington east of Ashland.

Harrison Street will also carry vehicles looking to avoid the winnowed options over the Congress Parkway Bridge.

Thousands of jobs are expected to be created during the road work, which will be paid for with funds from a variety of state and federal sources. Reconstruction of Wacker alone will run in the $350 million range.

Some of the projects, like the Eisenhower repaving, should be complete in a single construction season, by this coming Oct. 31.

The Congress bridge project won’t be finished until a year after that, and the Wacker effort will stretch into later 2012. The Congress Parkway streetscape is expected to be complete by the summer of that year.

As part of the Congress and Wacker Drive interchange work, the city will rehabilitate Oscar D’Angelo Park, decking roadways and creating 3.5 acres of green space decorated with trees and native grasses.

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