Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy Hears...

... that the north side of Howard is blocked off just east of Ridge for one stage of the construction of the Bristol apartments development there.

... that the major sewer construction activities on Orrington between Foster and Emerson are completed; all that's needed now is restoration of the parkways, which will come in the spring, according to the folks at MWH Americas, who are overseeing the project. Just west of Orrington on Simpson they've dug a 60-foot deep construction shaft to tunnel from Simpson to Noyes. Coming soon, two more shafts on Foster - at Orrington and one just east of Sherman - for sewer work in January and February. They'll use a TBM - a tunnel-boring machine - for the tunnels. Meanwhile, at Sherman and Main the folks at Insituform Technologies worked almost round the clock a couple of weeks ago to put in some of those new sewer liners along Sherman at Main and at Washington. This method, which is being used many places in Evanston, essentially creates a new pipe by inserting a lining in the old pipes, some of which are nearly a century old.

... that NU reports that some of its scientists have produced "transparent, high-performance transistors that can be assembled inexpensively on both glass and plastics." In other words, they're looking toward creating "a car windshield that displays a map to your destination, military goggles with targets and instructions displayed right before a soldier's eyes or a billboard that doubles as a window." These results were published in the November 2006 issue of the journal Nature Materials.

... that City Council has asked the Energy Commission to weigh in on possible harm from electromagnetic fields from the ComEd station on Emerson Street. Can it be that Council is concerned only about new condo developments proposed for the area, or are they thinking of the health of City workers if they put the new Civic Center there? 'Course regular residents have been living near that substation, and the one on Church across from the high school, and the one on Central Street by the fire station and all those high-wire power lines for decades. The consensus from the Energy Commission was that the issue is not resolved but there is no hard data proving harm to humans from electromagnetic fields surrounding high-tension wires or substations. If there is an effect, the commission members said, it would be from the voltage rather than the current, so the advice was for the City to measure the voltage. If you raise the current it lowers the voltage, the commission members said.

... that, starting this month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will honor two of the four America the Beautiful passes by giving a 50-percent reduction in day use and camping fees to pass holders at its recreation areas. For more information about the recreation pass program, visit here.

From our readers:
TG: The inflatable mouse in the Jan. 10 issue [is one of those] supplied by an Illinois company by the name of Big Sky Balloons, and they are used to protest the hiring of non-union workers. You can also purchase cockroaches, greedy pigs, skunks and fat-cats and other inflatables geared to incite for one reason or another. The cockroach was recently featured in a squib article in the Jan. 15 issue of The New Yorker. By now, though, I'm sure half the population of Evanston has answered your question.
-- Barrie Mark

From TG: Thanks, Mr. Mark, no, only one other person responded to the question. Dale Fochs called to say that the rat was used to mark companies that hire non-union workers.

TG: A blue moon is a rare phenomenon
Thus not predictable goings-on.
And routine cyclic beat
Of May full moon repeat
Isn't a real blue moon liaison.
-- Robert Bagby

From TG: This was in response to the comment about a blue moon's appearing in May. One definition of a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. One piece of that spam that continually circulates in cyberspace noted that February of 1865 is the "only month in recorded history" without a full moon.

TG: What has been going on for weeks under and over the viaduct at the Emerson-Green Bay fork of Ridge? Smithereen seems to have taken up residence. And that usually means there is some kind of difficult exterminating problem. Have the rats been set loose by the construction of the building on the curve? What is going on? Thanks for your detective help.
-- Jessica Feldman
From TG: TG ran a photo and comment about this a few weeks ago. Here's a response from David Jennings, the City's director of public works: "No - there is not a rat problem. This project is a replacement of the pigeon-proofing system that has been in place for the past 10 years. The original transparent netting was expected to last five years, but we got 10 years out of it. The current project includes an opaque screening on the sides of the bridge in addition to the somewhat transparent screening used on the rest of the bridge. We thought that covering up the unsightly bridge while we were redoing the pigeon netting would be a good idea. We are pleased with the look and welcome the opinions of your readers."
-- David Jennings,
Director of Public Works

P.S.- This is part of a multi-year project approved by City Council a couple of years ago to eliminate the health hazards (and the mess) under viaducts caused by pigeons roosting over the public way, especially the sidewalks. There is one more year left on the contract.

TG: What's the deal with "Jennifer Morris Park" on the southeast corner of Washington and Custer next to the Metra tracks? This "park" is about 50 feet long and 10 feet wide with a brick sidewalk. No bench, nothing. Why the sign? No one uses it as a park. Are the benches and the trees on the other side of the El also part of "Jennifer Morris Park"? If so, the sign might look less ridiculous there.
-- Steve Cohen

From TG: Paul D'Agostino, superintendent of Parks/Forestry and Recreation for the City has provided the following information: "This parcel was acquired by the City of Evanston in 1986, and was named sometime after that for a popular local merchant on Custer Avenue who was struck and killed by an automobile. Other area merchants spearheaded the effort to have the parcel formally named in her honor. The parcel with the benches and trees on the other side of the El tracks is actually CTA property that the City leases. This land is formally named St. Paul Park, and is maintained by the City."

The Traffic Guys Thinks...

... that the CTA really needs to do some thinking about its proposed repairs. The way it stands, with the upcoming repairs on the Brown, Purple and Red lines, customers up here can expect their rides to be twice as long for the next 2½ years. What are they thinking?

... that an article in a Chicago newspaper a couple of weeks ago was written as if it was whispering the news of global warming. One sentence read something like "Maybe Al Gore is onto something."

Maybe the Girl Scouts are, too.

They have a new cookie, Lemonades (trans-fat free), which they describe as a "combination of crisp shortbread and tangy lemon icing shaped to resemble a slice of lemon." They're pushing the Lemonades to go with global warming, which seems to be rapidly replacing winter everywhere: "Enjoy our unseasonably warm temperatures even more with a favorite taste of summer...." Girl Scout cookie site sales will continue into March.

Meanwhile, everyone who's walking around outside these days sees some evidence of too early a spring, like buds on flowering trees or cold-nipped daffodils coming up through the snow.