Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy Hears...

... that "The Sea of the Ear Ring" by Tagashi Soga will be the public art piece for Sherman Plaza. As conceived, it will be in front of the new location of Barnes & Noble, on the southwest corner of Church and Sherman. It's to be 15 feet high, of stainless steel painted red.

... that the curb cut on the northeast corner of Chicago and Church could use a little repair, too.

... that the Evanston Historical Society may change its name to the Evanston History Center.

... that a doggie day care and training center may be coming to Greenwood and Dodge.

... that Jan. 19 was bike-to-work day and, if you remember, was VERY cold. Did anybody do it? TG sees a few people biking even in this frigid weather. Kudos to them.

... that the Democratic Party of Evanston is organizing buses to join Barack Obama in Springfield for his big announcement as candidate for President on Sunday. Guess no one thinks he's going to say he's not running.

... that there are at least two streets in Evanston that have parallel parts: There are parallel Sherman Avenues between Lake and Grove on each side of the el tracks, and, down by Howard, the entrance to Target is technically Hartrey, though unmarked, and there's another Hartry just beyond the wall. Wonder if there's a whole parallel Evanston somewhere?

... that, even if there isn't a parallel Evanston, there's a whimsically surreal website for the building at 1245 Chicago Ave.: whatsgonnahappenhere.com. Folks can sign in and speculate about the future of that building, which a long time ago housed a clothing store called Khaki.

The designers of the website (who may be owners of the building), list these as possibilities: a komodo dragon-breeding station; an indoor organic raspberry garden; a venue for glow-in-the-dark slot car racing and a Bolshevik art gallery. Here are some of the tamer suggestions from visitors to the website: a vintage clothing store, a family-friendly restaurant, a bakery, an ice cream parlor, a bowling alley, an indoor golf facility, a children's museum and (from an elected official) the perfect spot for bringing the Northlight Theatre back to Evanston.

And here are some, more biting ones than the others:
• "It will be a combination coffee house, ice cream parlor, sushi shop and vegetarian restaurant, which sells jewelry, fresh flowers, and has a dry cleaning drop-off counter that also specializes in running shoes, with a separate section that sells pets, thus freeing up most of the surrounding real estate for even more condos."

• "It's a perfect spot for a nuclear waste dump site, or just your average toxic waste landfill. After a few years you could turn it into a miniature golf course, and eventually a high rise, mixed use condo/health spa with a bunch of useless retail shops on the first floor just like every other former historic building in this town.

Of course the new construction will be shoddy, in keeping with the current trend of poorly-constructed, red brick, ugly, built-to-the-lot-line structures. And it will take forever to fill the retail stores at the exorbitant asking price per sq/ft (how many Scotch tape boutiques can afford the rent?).

And the condos will all be bought up by speculators who will make a few bucks and then eventually have to rent them out, since the whole town is over-built. Another option: Turn it back into prairie and gift it to the Potawatomie Indians. Maybe we'll get a nice casino put there."

• And a Wisconsinesque one: Famous Americans carved in Velveeta cheese. From our readers: Here are some thoughts on the Main Street Metra Station:

1. What's the only stop on the Metra North line where you can't catch a train for downtown that arrives between 6:45 and 7:45? Main Street, that's right. There is no train stopping at Main Street between 6:19 and 7:21 a.m. Granted, this isn't prime morning rush hour, but occasionally you do have to get there early and there's no train unless you go to Rogers Park or Davis to catch the one train that gets you downtown at 7:15, the 304. It stops everywhere but Main Street (we won't count Ravinia Park, where no trains stop in the morning). I could see it if this was some kind of express train, but it's not, since it stops everywhere else. With the increased population of train riders in the new construction near Main Street, shouldn't Metra be thinking about making a change here?

2. Nothing's more annoying than hunting for a parking spot when your train is going to be coming soon, and finding some other driver who has hogged two precious spots, leaving half a car length in front of and behind him. There are prime spots in front of the fire station on Custer and on the other side of Custer. They're not obviously residential.

Something the City could do for very little cost would be to paint lines in these areas, which would remind sleepy commuters how to park.

3. While on the subject of Metra, do you happen to know why the North line has the northbound and southbound trains running reversed (speaking in left/right terms) compared to most other railroads and highways? Not that it matters much, but I've always wondered.
- Steve Cohen

From TG: TG will pass your questions on to Metra and your thoughts onto the City. Please keep us posted on the answers.

The corner of Grove and Sherman west of the CTA tracks.