CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois Department of Transportation announced both good and bad news on Wednesday.

The flyover ramp from westbound I-74 to southbound I-57 opened at 4 p.m. on Aug. 27, 2025 after four years of construction. The interchange project as a whole, however, won’t be completed until 2027.

The addition is part of a larger $250 million construction plan at the crossroad. It extends a third of a mile and was built with more than one million pounds of steel to ease the flow of traffic.

“We certainly saw the capacity needs and we’re hearing it from local leadership all the time,” Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi said. “There are more cars, there are more trucks.”

Safety was a big concern prior to the project, with IDOT officials saying the previous cloverleaf interchange caused semitrucks to tip over because of tight turns. It would also slow down vehicles merging, causing accidents and slowing down commute times.

“The design was just so old — and I’m not an engineer — but the curves and the merging was just unsafe,” said Sen. Paul Faraci (D-Champaign).

IDOT said there is $300 million more in transportation projects coming soon to Champaign County, and the I-74 East to I-57 North flyover will be completed next in 2026.