CAHOKIA HEIGHTS, Ill. – Nader Qasem is part of the family-owned iDeal Furniture store on Camp Jackson Road in Cahokia Heights. The business is less than a mile from Interstate 255. 

Qasem wants customers to know his store will remain open even though a section of the interstate from Illinois Route 15 to Illinois Route 157 will close for approximately six months. 

“We are a small, family-owned business, and this will definitely affect us,” Qasem said.

The shutdown is touted by the Illinois Department of Transportation as an accelerated $65.4 million rehabilitation and resurfacing project. The current work is the second of five phases to repair and improve I-255. 

IDOT contends taxpayers will save money, and the work will be completed sooner and safer by shutting down both directions of the interstate.

Some commuters characterize the work as a major inconvenience.

“I think it’s going to be a big headache,” Michael Henderson, a Cahokia Heights resident who travels I-255, said.

Heavenly McCline is also concerned. The Granite City resident relies on I-255 for regular trips to Cahokia Heights.

“How are we going to be able to travel to get to places where we need to go?” she asked.

IDOT encourages drivers to be prepared with an alternative route.