Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy Hears...

Young members of the Sheila Tully dance troupe celebrate Irishness on more days than just St. Pat's.

... that Lake is closed between Brown and Grey by the high school, but the detour is relatively painless – down to Greenwood for a block and back. This is part of the Lake Street sewer rehab project, between Elmwood and the canal. Only three shafts will have to be constructed: this one (Grey Avenue), one at Florence and one at Elmwood. The Grey/Brown detour will continue until Sept. 21. The Florence Avenue phase will begin April 9 and end Oct. 22, and the final, Elmwood, phase is set to begin May 14 and end Nov. 19. Pay attention to the "no parking" signs, so the equipment and traffic can move and so you won't have to pay and seethe.

Further north, relief sewer tunneling operations are "well underway" on Orrington between Simpson and Noyes, the City reports. Foster and Simpson are both closed between Sherman and just about Orrington (some local traffic allowed). Sheridan is one-lane northbound between Noyes and almost Colfax, and Orrington is one-lane southbound to Garrett and then closed to through traffic. All this for a tunnel that will be 60 feet deep, 960 feet long and 78 inches in diameter.

... that about 1,000 residents will change trash days beginning April 2 because the City has restructured garbage collection routes to include pickups from certain condo buildings with six units or less. Adding these buildings to the routes will save the City money and aid in containing the cost of trash collection for the expanding condominium population in Evanston. Check out the full-page ad in this issue or look for a notice in the mail. Also, you can visit the City's website, www.cityofevanston.org, or call the Streets and Sanitation Division, 847-866-2940, to request a map.

... that street cleaning in Evanston begins on Monday, April 2, and the City says this year all residential street cleaning will take place in the day time – between 9 and 4. The business and retail areas of the City will be cleaned between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m. Now, remember to check out the signs that tell you when not to park on certain streets, and remember, too, that if the sign says not to park between 9 and 4 and the street sweeper went by at 2, you're still apt to get a ticket if you park there before 4. You can visit the City's website, www.cityofevanston.org or call the Streets and Sanitation Division, 847-866-2940, to get a complete street-cleaning schedule. Or call the Public Works Division of Streets and Sanitation, 847- 866-2940 for more info.

... that City will hold a public information meeting regarding the rehabilitation of Ridge Avenue between Howard and Lyons, scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 27 at the Civic Center. Speaking of posted information, TG received a copy of an article in the Chicago Sun-Times about the first NCAA tournament final, played at Patten Gymnasium, which included a photo of the first Patten. The sender, Evanstonian John McCarron, was particularly impressed by the elegantly bare Tallmadges, to wit: "Let's hope the Evanston streets crews saw this photo with four Tallmadge street lights bearing no (zero, 0, nada) traffic signage. Looks good, doesn't it?" To which TG responds an emphatic "yes."

... that our own Senator Jeff Schoenberg sponsored legislation to help communities (such as Evanston) beset by the emerald ash borer (EAB). The bill creates an EAB revolving loan program, which would provide low-interest or interest-free loans to municipalities and counties to assist them in reforestation of trees on public land.

... that this postal box at the corner of Sheridan and Foster is one of several in the Chicago area newly decorated by the United States Postal Service. These temporary boxes, all dressed up like R2D2 of Star Wars, are meant to draw attention to the "exciting new adventure on which the USPS is embarking with Lucasfilm Ltd., say the folks at USPS. They also say you can check out uspsjedimaster.com for "clues about the real meaning behind this unprecedented promotion."

... that the old Evanston Historical Society is now history – the Evanston History Center, in fact. The name change was approved last fall.

... that there were several Days last week. In case you caught only the big ones – St. Patrick's Day (everywhere March 17), Buzzard Day (Hinkley, Ohio, March 19) and Swallow Day (San Juan de Capistrano, March 20) – you'll probably be glad to know that March 14 was day and that March 17 was Corn Dog Day. Pi is that ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, expressed by the infinite string of numerals that begins with 3.14 (now you get why it's celebrated on 3/14). So some did math and some ate pizza.

Corn Dog Day seems to be self-proclaimed at www.corndogday.com, celebrating a "great, truly American food." National Corndog Day coincides with the Saturday of the final 32 teams in NCAA basketball tournament. Here's what they say: "This Saturday is the only day all year that one can watch a quadruple-header of college basketball games from start to finish without having to change the channel. Therefore, to celebrate the excitement of the college basketball tournament, and have fun with friends, many people eat corndogs." Gus Paschalis, owner of The Wiener and Still Champion on Dempster Street says his place offers corndogs "in more ways than anywhere else on the planet.

... We developed our own recipe for the ultimate corndog last year, and they've really taken off. But now we're offering more dipping sauces than just ketchup and mustard. You can get a mild sauce, a garlic aoli, spicy mustard, curry ketchup, honey mustard, and even our own Argentine garlic and herb sauce."

From our readers:
TG: Re: parallel Sherman Avenues
The Sherman parallels that occur
Actually begin south at Dempster.
Photographs are at Lake
Saying Grove is mistake
Two-block run precluding a refer.
-- Robert Bagby
TG: Question 1: What is the purpose of the four way stop sign at Maple and Dempster? It was put up during Dempster street sewer repairs and is still there. Cars are already slowing down for the light at Elmwood. Is there a way to get the city to remove those stop signs?

Question 2: The corner of Dempster and Chicago Ave. would benefit from having a left turn signal. Anytime of day it could take two or more cycles to make a left turn. I have waited up to five cycles to make the turn. How do I go about requesting the signal to be installed?

Question 3: How is it that 16 "No Left Turn" signs are completely ineffective at the corner of Dempster and Ridge? Police positioned at that intersection could generate enough ticket revenue to completely offset Evanston's budget deficeit.

By the way, in my opinion, the street parking policies in Evanston's business districts continue to drive away diners and shoppers.
-- Joyce Elias

"I'm not a post-office box." "Are
too, Detoo."

From TG: My, you have a lot of Dempster Street questions. As TG understands it, the four-way stop sign you refer to was put up at the request of the neighbors and is intended to be permanent. TG hopes those orange flags will be gone soon, though. Your point on the left turn is probably meant for the Dempster Street traffic, as there are already left-turn lanes on Chicago both northbound and southbound. Sounds like a good idea. You could call the traffic engineer at the City's Department of Streets and Sanitation, 847- 866-2940 and ask how to proceed. As far as Dempster/Ridge goes, your guess is as good as anyone's as to 1) why people persist in those illegal left turns and 2) why more do not receive tickets. Finally, TG agrees with your assessment of our draconian downtown parking policies.

... that it's that time of year when the receding snow leaves moraines of trash, made even more unpalatable by the still-brown grass. We all ought to get out there and clean it up.

... that, speaking of lines of trash, TG believes that the City's term "street cleaning" is a misnomer; "street sweeping" is a more accurate term. Haven't we all seen those machines leave ridges of dirt, leaves and trash in their wake, along with a wet streak indicating that the machine passed by. Or the City could invest in machines that actually clean the streets.

... Happy spring, everyone. Nunc amet qui cras amabit, qui numquam amabit cras amet: TG's rite of spring.

A gutterful of trash.