Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy Hears...

...that there is now a Citywide speed limit: 25 miles per hour unless otherwise posted. Here's one of the new signs.

...that fire hydrant testing began this week. Look for firefighters to open the hydrants for a time to test the water pressure. You could also offer them milk and cookies or some lemonade, for all they do for the community.

...that all the downtown parking garages will be managed by a Chicago company, Central Parking Systems, for the next three years. Let's hope they keep the first hour free.

...that there will be a loading zone (7 a.m. - 6 p.m.) in front of a day care facility at 127 Custer.

...that there will be a four-way stop at Forest and Hamilton and, most likely, a three-way stop at Dodge and Grant.

...that the following alleys will be paved this summer: northof Jenks, east of Broadway; north of Monroe, east of Ridge; north of Dempster east of Fowler; and north of Colfax, east of Pioneer (a hard-fought battle, that one).

...that the study of our water system has begun. We should watch this carefully, folks, because the results may lead to a suggestion for a hike in the water rates. You remember that we had no sewer rate hike this year, and after the sewer study was done, the recommendation was not to change the sewer rates until the water study had been completed.

...that McCormick north and south between Bridge and Emerson is closed now. At the north end, remember, the Grant/Prairie/McCormick intersection will be reconfigured to make for better pedestrian traffic, particularly for kids walking to Kingsley and Haven schools. Look for the loss of some trees but a nice green island there.

...that construction on the Asbury Avenue bridge continues .

...that we'll be spending just over a million dollars this summer on street repaving, as follows: Asbury from Lincoln to Central; Case from Ridge to Custer; Central Park from Central to Park Place; Dewey from Greenwood to Lake; Florence from Lake to Grove; Foster from Emerson to Hartrey; Hartzell from Prospect to Lawndale; Keeney from Chicago to Hinman; South between Dodge and Florence; Wesley between Crain and Dempster; and Wesley between Emerson and Foster.

...that the Twiggs Park bike path could be constructed next year, along the canal between Green Bay and the middle of the park, where the present bike path ends. There will be a 10-foot wide path, security lighting and a "gateway feature" at the Green Bay end. The City has acquired the former Permalawn property to extend the park to Green Bay and Ashland. The $250,000 cost will be covered by 80 percent federal and 20 percent City funds.

...that the police department is replacing 20 of its 5-year-old in-car analog cameras with digital cameras. The police department says the cameras are "invaluable in substantiating incidents and protecting police officers and citizens."

...that some folks are upset that NU purchased another building, taking it off the tax rolls. This most recent sale to NU was 1945 Orrington. What kind of bone do you think the University will give us for taking that one off the tax rolls - a cup of coffee and a bagel for members of the Council, perhaps? Speaking of NU, the City has set term limits on the community representation on the NU-City committee. The two reps will have staggered terms of two years each.

... that there will be no refuse, recycling or yard-waste pickups on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29. All collections will be one day later that week.

...that ComEd has 10 substations in Evanston - one transmission substation and nine distribution substations. Who knows their locations? TG knows some but probably not all. ComEd maintains them every three to five years and checks the oil every month.
From our readers:

To TG: Just wanted to call attention to Isabella Street bridge over the North Shore Channel. The concrete pavement is busting out. Potholes are appearing. Isn't the bridge quite new? This shouldn't be happening at such an early date...or should it? -- John Wertymer

From TG: We didn't have a hard enough winter to account for that, did we? TG believes the bridge was repaired within the last two years.

To TG: To add to the discussion, there was reference to "Henry's" on Green Bay Rd. next to Walker Brothers Pancake House. This was actually a Richard's drive-in,"Richard's Drive-In Carfeteria," complete with carhops and all the local hot cars. On the subject of ice cream, Peacock's had great orange sherbet as well as the best party punch around. My dad used to have a shop on Sherman Avenue near Main Street, only a few doors down from them in the mid-40s and they used to give us dry ice to play with in the summer. I almost got frostbite a couple of times. The main plant was also on Sherman Avenue but on the east side of the street, up just north of Lake Street, where the parking garage is now. Later, in the 50s, there was a Prince Castle on Asbury near Howard next to Chuck's, where we would go for root beer shakes.

I also recall one of the first fast food chicken outfits was on Howard Street, called Chicken Delight. This predated KFC by many years and had some great chicken, plus they delivered. I still miss Smithfield's, with the best ham salad ever, to go with the Kaiser rolls from their bakery department. Speaking of which, they had unbelievable chocolate eclairs, giant cream puffs and the best-tasting oversized sugar cookies I've ever found. I used to go in all the time as a kid and knew the ladies behind the counter pretty well. I remember going back in after many years and seeing them working there, and they still recognized me on first sight. I think they had the same staff for 30 or 40 years. -- Gary Yonaites

The Traffic Guy Thinks...

...it'll be great to have the Twiggs Park extension and bike path. The fed money comes from the SAFETEA-LU: Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, signed into law by President Bush last August. So that's what he was doing in Texas last summer; TG thought he was just ignoring Cindy Sheehan.

...that - with all that hot air coming out of NU every time they steal a bit of our tax base - some may be surprised (or not) to learn that NU has purchased some renewable energy certificates for wind power that will provide 40,000 megawatt hours annually for the next four years. They say this is equivalent to preventing more than 77 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, taking 7,317 cars off the road or planting 9,586 acres of trees each year.
Maybe some of the folks who see red at purple will be softened by the green.

... that some folks are calling for a boycott of gasoline, given the higher and higher gas prices. Even though a lot of folks are using bikes, bikers and drivers both need to pay a little more attention to roadway courtesy.

... that one solution to the bee problem would be to classify non-honey-producing bees as "wild animals" and ban them from the City and classify honey-producing bees as welcome.