Drivers, get ready for big time traffic delays for the next two years.

Most Chicago motorists find the bumper to bumper delays that come from warm weather construction pretty much de rigueur during the spring/summer/fall.

But, this spring, the construction apocalypse takes place in downtown Chicago and points west of the city.

Four major road or highway construction projects that have their terminus near where the Eisenhower meets downtown, have or will get underway soon according to an excellent overview of this mess by Chicago Tribune transportation writer Jon Hilkevitch.

Ground zero is Congress and the Eisenhower. That’s because not only is the Eisenhower being worked on from Congress west for 27 miles, but the Congress Parkway Bridge is being fixed up as well as the streetscape on Congress from Wells St. to Michigan to provide more access for bikes and pedestrians.

To make matters even worse, both levels of Wacker Drive, which begins/ends just east of the Congress Parkway Bridge will begin construction in either May or June.

Perhaps, the most annoying part of the projects will be the effect of taking out Lower Wacker Drive out of commission. Considered one of the best and fastest short cut routes by in the know Chicago drivers, without this route to alleviate traffic, backups should be hellacious.

The dust will finally settle on all this construction sometime in 2012.

So, take deep breaths, drop some Xanax or do whatever you need to do to get through this construction hell.

Our advice is to try to avoid driving through this area as much as possible.

To get all the details on this driving chaos, read, “Gridlock ahead for western commute, Loop traffic.”