ILLINOIS — If you’re hitting the road in Illinois over the holidays you’ll have to deal with thousands of people doing the same thing but you won’t have to contend with many construction crews.

In a news release, the state’s Department of Transportation says it is suspending all non-emergency construction projects until one minute before midnight on Christmas day and again between the afternoon of Dec. 28 until just before midnight on Jan. 1.

And better news for travelers is that in some cases the disappearing work crews will be accompanied by the reopening of some lanes of traffic.

Not surprisingly, most of the projects are in the Chicago area but construction projects will be halted up and down the state.