Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday announced a $2.4 million project to repair an Evanston bridge built more than a century ago.

Illinois Constructors Corporation of Elburn, Ill., will rehabilitate the Bridge Street bridge over the North Shore Channel, according to Quinn’s office. The bridge connects Simpson Street to McCormick Boulevard near the Evanston Ecology Center, 2024 N. McCormick Blvd.

As part of the project, the bridge will be made wider to support more bike, pedestrian and wheelchair traffic between the Ladd Arboretum at the ecology center and a nursing home across the canal from it, according to the city. The construction is expected to be mostly done by the end of November.

The 105-year-old bridge over the North Shore Channel is one of two structurally deficient bridges in Evanston, according to Transportation for America, a national coalition of infrastructure advocates.

The bridge revamp is part of two capital investments totaling more than $3.7 million unveiled Thursday by Quinn. The second plan involves road repairs in Park Ridge, Ill.

Quinn said the projects will “improve transportation safety and efficiency,” as well as boost the Chicago suburbs’ economies by employing construction workers.

The city asked for bids for the bridge work in 2004, and Illinois Constructors Corporation submitted the cheapest proposal, Quinn’s office said.

— Patrick Svitek