Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy Hears...

... this has been some year, with snowdrops blooming in January and snow-covered daffodils in April.

... that Smith Park, at Ashland and Lyons, will be renovated, starting shortly. Also, the City and the Board of Pensioners of the United Methodist Church are going to do a land swap in the 1200 block of Davis. Seems the Board of Pensioners wants to expand and take 9,000 square feet of the park but will trade some of its other open space there so the City can maintain the park. Look for this to surface in public discussions in June or so.

... that the City is planting a total of 428 trees this summer.

... that (speaking of trees) those are ash tree stumps, those rows in the Crawford Avenue boulevard south of Central. They were found to carry the emerald ash borer.

... that the deer are back in town. Here are two enjoying an afternoon much on a parkway in northwest Evanston.

... that from April 30 to May 26, City crews will be testing our fire hydrants - all over the City and between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The City folks say that anyone who notices a discoloration in tap water while the hydrants on the block are being tested can just run the water for a few minutes. If that doesn't take care of the problem, contact the Water Department, 847-866-2942. Call Fire Captain Gregory Klaiber, 847- 866-5930, for more info on the hydrant program.

... that several streets have been slated for repaving this summer: Asbury between Noyes and Grant, between Main and Emerson and between Chancellor and Jenks; Ashland between Dempster and Grove; Benson between Church and Davis; Central Park between Park Place and Isabella; Chicago between Madison and Washington; Church between Florence and Ridge; Dobson between Dodge and Dewey; Grant between Ridgeway and Central Park; Hawthorne Lane; Hull Terrace between Custer and Callan; Kirk between Wesley and Asbury; Martha Lane; McDaniel between Harrison and Elgin Road; Noyes between Crawford and Prospect; Pitner between Dempster and Lake; Prairie between Lincoln and Harrison; Ridgeway between Grant and Colfax; Thayer between Gross Point Road and Central Park; and Wesley between Mulford and the north end of North Kirk.

Speaking of streets and stuff, TG hears that some researchers at NU and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have, as they say, gotten some concrete results on "one of the world's most familiar construction materials -- Portland concrete."

Concrete, as most of us really know but tend to forget, is a paste mixture of cement, water, sand and gravel that some say is the basis of the world's infrastructure.

The Romans used cement and concrete in the Coliseum and Pantheon. "The cement paste," according to a statement from NU, is "a gel of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) [that] binds everything together to form concrete." The name "Portland" comes from the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England, where this type of cement was invented - seems the stuff resembled the limestoney island.

But back to the NU and NIST researchers, who were able to "precisely determine the composition and mass density of the tiny particles in the C-S-H gel ... and discover information" that could help improve the properties in concrete made from Portland cement. Such improvements could, the researches say, "save hundreds of millions of dollars in annual maintenance and repair costs for concrete structures and reducing the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions produced during the manufacture of cement.More than 11 billion metric tons of concrete are consumed each year, making it the world's most widely used manufactured material."

And, to add another local touch, TG hears the Portland Cement Association is located in Skokie.

... that demolition is slated to begin next month on Fire Station #5, 2830 Central. As with construction of the other Central Street fire station, the firefighters will be housed in a trailer in the NU parking lot near Ryan Field (the east one). City folks say the new fire station will be the City's first green building.

... that, speaking of demolition, it seems that time (to say the least) is taking its toll on the former Kendall College property. Does anyone know when the destruction/construction is supposed to begin? See, below, a lovely photo of a former dorm.

... that although the address of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian has changed, from 2600 Central Park to 3001 Central, the museum itself hasn't moved.

... that a few more sidewalk cafés will appear around town: at Trattoria DOC on Main, Bat 17 on Benson and Linz & Vail on Central.

... that there's a proposal for an 8.5-mile multi-use trail north from Oakton Street in Skokie to Lake Cook Road in Northbrook.

... that the annual "Bike the Drive" tour will be held May 27; Sign up now here.

.... that the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is advocating support for five bills they say will help promote bicycle and pedestrian safety: Senate Bills 80 and 314 and on House Bills 508, 875, and 1382. These deal with establishing bicycling and pedestrian ways in the planning and construction of state road projects; codifying a 3-foot passing distance when automobiles overtake bicycles; increasing penalties for reckless driving in school crosswalks; creating higher penalties for motorists who cause death by negligent driving; and extending emergency vehicle status to police and fire officials using bicycles in the line of duty.

Speaking of safety, Mark V. Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), was scheduled to speak on highway safety at NU last week.

The Traffic Guy thinks ...

... that one of the great things about Evanston is that people here keep the faith. These protesters of the war (below) came out last Friday to Church and Maple and plan to come monthly. The eerie drum beats added a solemnity to the noise and bustle of downtown Friday night.

... that we should combine the two current media frenzies, "American Idol" and the presidential campaigns: As a shortcut to the conventions, candidates would participate in "Presidential Icon."

Each of the presidential candidates would give their rendition of three famous speeches of their respective parties: an inaugural speech, an exculpatory speech and a war speech. Republicans would do Lincoln's second inaugural; Democrats, Kennedy's.

Democrats would do Clinton's "Rose Garden" speech and Republicans would have a choice of Nixon's "Checkers" or "I am not a crook" speeches. There's more latitude for the war speech, as candidates could riff on Franklin Roosevelt's "I hate war" or Bush's "Mission Accomplished" or any one of the domestic "war on X" speeches: poverty, drugs, terror.

TG would like to see this aired on CNN (Comedy Central is second choice) with Al Sharpton, Dr. Phil and Rosie O'Donnell as judges. Voting by phone would be open for 24 hours, with only three votes per phone allowed. The voters would select a Democrat and a Republican team, as runner-ups would be the vice-presidential candidates.

... that the time has come to revisit one of TG's ideas from a couple of years ago: putting a spire of studio condos at Hot Dog Island at the west end of Central Street. The City should woo Santiago Calatrava to create the Evanston spire and then let nothing else in the City be taller than that.

... that maybe the City made a wise choice to repair Asbury between Emerson and Howard this summer, before the Ridge Avenue repairs start next year. Or maybe if they wait a couple of years to do the Asbury repairs, the street would last longer, because all the damage done by the extra traffic avoiding Ridge would be taken care of afterward.

As it is, once Asbury is repaired, there will be heavy traffic for several months, diverted because of the Ridge Avenue repairs.

The North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice will hold a monthly rally on the second Friday of each month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Church Street and Maple Avenue, across from the Century Theatres, until, in their words, "the war and occupation of Iraq comes to an end." They encourage "all Evanston residents ... to come stand together in this monthly visual statement of our desire for peace."