September 4, 2026.
JOLIET, Ill. — Construction of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project is set to resume after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lifted a federal stop-work order that had halted the major Great Lakes invasive carp prevention project for more than a month.
The decision came Wednesday, Sept. 3, following a phone call between Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and President Donald Trump. Whitmer's office said the governor emphasized the urgency of completing the project as invasive carp continue moving closer to Lake Michigan. The Army Corps and White House subsequently confirmed that construction could resume.
The project, located at Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, is designed to create a series of deterrents intended to prevent invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species from moving upstream toward the Great Lakes.
Stop-work order raised concerns.
The Army Corps halted construction in late July without publicly explaining the reason for the decision. The interruption drew criticism from officials throughout the Great Lakes region, particularly because Illinois and Michigan had committed state funding to the project alongside federal dollars.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called on the federal administration this week to restart construction, noting that more than a month had passed without an explanation for the stoppage. Pritzker also directed the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to again request an emergency meeting of the project's Senior Executive Board.
After the work stoppage was lifted, however, Pritzker's office said Illinois had not received direct notification from the administration that construction was restarting.
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Great Lakes Task Force, also welcomed the resumption while criticizing the lost construction time.
Kaptur said the project protects the drinking water, fisheries and livelihoods of millions of people throughout the Great Lakes region and called on the Army Corps to move quickly to recover the time lost during the shutdown.
Carp threat adds urgency.
The renewed attention comes as monitoring has produced additional evidence that invasive carp remain a serious threat to the Great Lakes.
In August, Illinois Department of Natural Resources crews detected hundreds of juvenile invasive silver carp approximately 80 miles from Lake Michigan. The discovery represented the farthest upstream detection of juvenile invasive carp since monitoring began in 2010.
The concern is that an established invasive carp population could compete with native fish for food and habitat and create significant ecological and economic consequences for the Great Lakes.
The region's fishing, boating and recreation economies depend heavily on healthy Great Lakes ecosystems.
Project uses multiple deterrents.
Brandon Road is intended to serve as a critical "pinch point" in the Illinois Waterway.
Rather than relying on a single barrier, the project is designed around multiple deterrents working together. Planned features include an engineered channel, an acoustic deterrent, a bubble barrier and an electric dispersal system, along with measures designed to prevent fish from moving through spaces around commercial barge tows.
The system is intended to work alongside the existing electric dispersal barrier at Romeoville, creating multiple layers of protection between the Illinois Waterway and the Great Lakes.
More than $1 billion project.
The Brandon Road project is currently estimated at approximately $1.15 billion.
The Army Corps has previously identified $274 million in federal funding and $114 million in state funding for the first construction increment. Illinois and Michigan are the non-federal sponsors.
The Army Corps awarded a $113.8 million second construction contract in April 2026, completing the remainder of the project's first increment.
The federal government also transferred management of the project from the Army Corps' Rock Island District to the Detroit District in April. The Corps said the change was intended to improve coordination with Michigan and accelerate the project's progress.
Significant construction work remains.
Despite the restart, the project is far from complete.
Army Corps planning has called for additional contracts covering the flushing lock, right descending bank and additional engineered-channel components. Earlier project schedules anticipated major design work continuing into 2026-28, with additional construction contracts to follow.
The project also presents challenges for commercial navigation on the Illinois Waterway. Future construction could require temporary restrictions or closures at Brandon Road Lock and Dam. Previous Army Corps planning indicated that longer closures could be necessary during portions of the later construction phases.
Great Lakes states watching closely.
For Michigan and other Great Lakes states, the resumption removes an immediate obstacle but does not eliminate concerns about the project's schedule.
The stop-work episode demonstrated how vulnerable the project remains to changes in federal priorities and administrative decisions, even after Congress and the participating states committed substantial funding.
For communities throughout the Great Lakes basin, the stakes extend well beyond the Brandon Road facility itself. The project is being constructed at one of the last strategic locations where multiple technologies can be combined to slow or prevent the movement of invasive carp toward Lake Michigan.
With construction now cleared to resume, attention is expected to shift toward how quickly the Army Corps can make up the time lost during the federal shutdown—and whether additional interruptions will affect the project's already lengthy construction schedule.
The Great Lakes now have a project back in motion. The question is whether Brandon Road can remain on track long enough to finish the job.
