23 August 2006 Volume IX
Traffic Guy
The Traffic Guy Hears...
Downtown Evanston traffic was snarled by viaduct repairs, street
paving and construction trucks.
... that the caissons didn't roll along at the Church Street viaduct last weekend as planned. The CTA encountered two large, unanticipated manholes, which, the City says, "must be removed." The new proposed weekends for the caissons to be installed are Sept. 23-24 and Sept. 30 - Oct. 1, 7 a.m. till approximately 7 p.m. A few weeks ago downtown traffic was stalled on Church, Clark and Sherman because of the viaduct repair, Church Street repaving, delivery trucks and construction trucks. What a way to help our current businesses and welcome the new ones to Sherman Plaza.
... that T-Mobile wants to put two pairs of antennas for cell phones on the observatory tower of the Civic Center and a third pair in two of the east windows in the attic. The City folks say that T-Mobile says the antennas will be a "little smaller" than normal and will match the color of the brick on the Civic Center, so "they will not stand out as far as commonly seen." They also need to rent some space in the attic for some of their equipment. Since the Civic Center is a landmark building, they needed permission from the Preservation Commission, which they have received.
... that Enterprise Leasing will rent space in the Maple Avenue garage. The five-year lease (with options to renew) includes retail space and 15 parking spaces.
... that the Dempster-Chicago intersection is now free of construction traffic, as is Chicago-Main. Between Kedzie and South, though, it's still one lane in each directon.
The former Jeep dealership will be (what
else?) condos.
... that the Ridge Avenue improvements will finally be getting under way after a couple of years of wrangling and will stretch from Howard to Lyons. Right now the City is upgrading water main sections along Ridge in anticipation of the installation of a section of the new relief sewer system there, so traffic is one lane each way around Greenleaf. The project will include roadway resurfacing and base repair, drainage improvements, new curbing and "courtesy walks." Post-mounted traffic signals - our beloved traffic lights, which started all the brouhaha that ended with the jurisdictional transfer of Ridge from the state to the City - will be installed later this year. The local cost is about $1 million; our federal tax dollars fund $3.6 million of the cost and the state kicks in $1.2 million.
... that the McCormick/Prairie/Green Bay repairs may be done in time for the opening of schools. Right now there is two-way traffic on McCormick between Bridge and Emerson; Green Bay is still kind of slow, as the right-turn lane is being added and the new sidewalks laid in front of Kingsley School.
... that the City has added the alley north of Colfax and east of Pioneer to its paving schedule for the year. Residents had contested the project but lost their case in court.
... that the former car dealership north of Lee on Chicago will become (what else?) condos.
... that residents in north central Evanston are getting their new combined sewer lines: Simpson from Sherman to Orrington, Ridge from Garnett to Emerson, Sheridan from Emerson to Chicago and Sherman from University to Elgin. During work, affected residents are requested to limit water usage (toilet, laundry etc.) and disconnect sump pumps that are connected to the combined sewer system. The sewer rehab work will take about 12 hours.
Watch for some evening work there and for temporary "No Parking" signs.
The City also wishes residents to be aware that, while the resins used in the lining process contain styrene and have a distinctive odor, they are not dangerous at the levels used. To prevent the smell, pour a gallon of water into each basement floor drain and keep water in the drains. Call Gerry Rosario at 847-328-9675.
... that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago says it will implement a small-stream maintenance program, under which it will remove debris and fallen trees that can impede the flow of a stream and cause flooding. MWRCGC staff estimates that there are about 1,000 miles of small streams in Cook County, 300 miles in the north and west service areas and 400 in the south service area.
The Traffic Guy thinks ...
... hope everyone went to the season's final Starlight Concert last
night in Twiggs Park.
... enjoy what's left of these fading summer days.
... TG has no idea about how to remove a manhole. Any thoughts?
Send your thoughts and comments to us via email. We are here to listen.
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RoundTable Staff
Judge Dismisses Fisk v. Wollin
On Aug. 23 federal judge Joan Gottschall dismissed the lawsuit by Judy Fiske and Jeanne Kamps Lindwall against Cheryl Wollin, Northwestern University and five members of the canvassing board of the City of Evanston. She also refused to grant a recount of the April, 2005 election, which Ms. Wollin won.
The judge found that neither count of the complaint - a Constitutional challenge and a state election challenge - stated a claim and so dismissed the lawsuit entirely.
Ms. Fiske and Ms. Lindwall had accused Ms. Wollin and the University of violating their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. They alleged, among other things, that Northwestern had induced students to vote in the election by having certain students and employees act as deputy registrars to register students to vote and by providing a party on election night with free pizza, soft drinks and entertainment to any student who showed a voting stub.
The plaintiffs also alleged a conspiracy between Ms. Wollin and the University to deprive Ms. Fiske and Ms. Kamps of equal protection of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Judge Gottschall stated that such a violation would have to be based on race or class and further stated there was not "even the slightest hint that the alleged conspiracy between Northwestern and Wollin was race- or class- based." She dismissed that count as well.
In addition to dismissing the count of the complaint against the City's canvassing board - the elected officials who verified the vote - Judge Gottschalk refused to order a recount, saying, "The court is hard-pressed to imagine a greater intrusion into state and local affairs than that of ordering a recount of Evanston's election and installing Fiske as First Ward Alderman."
Jeff Smith, one of Ms. Wollin's attorneys said, "This is strong language, and validates our expressed belief that this suit was always without merit. It is unfortunate that the individuals and institutions smeared by the baseless lawsuit did not have a chance to clear their name, but this expeditious termination of the litigation is the fairest and most economic result for the voters and for the City."
Alan Cubbage, vice-president for University relations at Northwestern said, "When the lawsuit was originally filed, Northwestern said that it had no merit and was a blatant attempt to disenfranchise Northwestern students from voting in local elections.
Yesterday's ruling dismissing the case confirms this."
As for the next step, "We're examining the opinion and considering all of our options," Richard Means, attorney for Ms. Fiske and Ms. Lindwall, told the RoundTable. "We could go back to the state court on one or both counts - or just prepare for the next election. We'll know in a few days."
That's Where the Money Goes
A Tour of the Tax Bill
Cook County residents are in the process of paying the second installments
of their property tax bills. Taxpayers may be familiar with some of the
services they receive from these taxing bodies; others may seem to be only
an abstract figure on a twice-yearly tax bill.
Resilience and Grace: PomKits Return in Style
Pictured
left to right, back to front are, back row, Terrensia Vernon, Elena
Kountoures, Torrie Davis, Allie Mason, Katy Buranda and Whitney Ramsey;
middle, Patrycja Humienik, Aly Austin, Coach Casey Scherrer, Lauren Shiffrin
and Chasity Cooper; front, Brittany Pointer, Leslie Polster, Kim Marshall
and Marianna Singwi-Ferrono. PomKit Jahna Berk is not pictured.
The PomKits of Evanston Township High School are back. The 15-member squad will be performing their combinations of dance and gymnastics at football and boys basketball games this year. Three years ago, ETHS PomKits were in the national spotlight, as they traveled to Florida to compete in and win a national competition.
