Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy Hears ...

... that Evanston continues to recover from the storm.
The sidewalk on the Bridge Street bridge was covered with snow plowed from the street on Feb. 7, making the walk to school difficult via that route.

... from Public Works Director David Jennings about why the streets in Evanston are so bad with moguls worthy of a ski slope. This message came from the City on Feb. 7

"I know that most of you realize our streets do not look like they normally do at this point in a storm clean-up effort and I wanted you to know why. Yesterday, our salt supplier notified us that they could not honor the balance of our current order (about 1100 tons) due to difficulties in getting their supply of salt to the distribution point that serves us.

Also, we are over our allocation and there are many communities who are not that will be supplied when the salt arrives. We ordered 2,000 tons before the salt "rationing" was to take place in this area, so we thought we would be covered. However, with the current development, we were not. Here is what we are doing to deal with our dwindling supply:

1. We have stopped salting residential streets, but are continuing to plow. This means that most of these streets will develop "snowpack" which is smooth in some areas, but tends to rut and develop a washboard surface as traffic packs it down.

2. We have cut our salt with sand and Geomelt (an environmentally friendly liquid deicer applied to the salt) to extend the life of the salt supply. We are only using this on arterial streets and hills and curves. Also, we are applying this sparingly when we do use it.

3. To further conserve our supply, we have cut off those agencies we normally sell salt to: NU and the school districts.

4. We are switching to a different product than rock salt for sidewalks, parking lots, and similar areas. It is more expensive, but at least it is available and will keep the areas much safer than not using anything.

I wish I had better news to report. It is frustrating for our people working so hard to keep things clear to use more effort and see lessresults. We are continuing to use all available resources to get through this."

... that in commemoration of its 125th year, Evanston Township High School (an image of it, really) will grace next year's vehicle stickers. Seventh Ward Alderman Elizabeth Tisdahl, a former District 202 (ETHS) Board member, showed up at the Administration and Public Works Committee meeting on Jan. 28 to say "Go, Kits!" Three of the five aldermen on the committee - Aldermen Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 2nd Ward, Delores Holmes 5th Ward, and Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, are ETHS grads. Go, Kits!

... that the City's division of transportation (EDOT) will receive a grant totaling $102,000 to offset the cost of the Emerson Street Resurfacing Project, between Leland Avenue and Green Bay Road. The grant funding will be provided through IDOT's Truck Access Route Program (TARP), a program designed to assist local governments  with the cost of upgrading roadways that accommodate significant truck traffic, and this is the first time we've received TARP funds. Last year, the City secured a federal grant of $1,285,000 toward resurfacing Lake Street between Elmwood and McDaniel Avenue. The Lake Street project will also be designed in-house this year and will be ready for construction in 2009.

... that the trailer at Elks Park will soon be removed and stored - probably at the recycling center. The City put the trailer there several years ago, under an agreement with the Ridgeville Park District, to provide electricity for the free summer lunch program for kids. Seems nearby residents objected to the trailer, because it was too close to their building and because people were sleeping behind it. The City's free summer lunch program will continue at Mason Park, Robert Crown and Fleetwood-Jourdain, City folks said last week.

... that the Wild Geese restaurant at 1245 Chicago Ave. (you know, the "What's Gonna Happen Here" place) is about ready to open, said Steve Schwartz, owner of Campagnola (farther south on Chicago). He said the restaurant will serve soup, salad, sandwiches and the "plate of the day." They've got their liquor license, as does Wingstop at 2434 Main St. (in the shopping plaza there). A change in the process at the City, though, will have Assistant City Manager Gavin Morgan in charge of liquor licenses, but Mayor Lorraine Morton will remain the liquor commissioner.

... that kids still have fun in the snow. A snow blower piled up this mass, which soon became a snow fort in the eight or so inches of snow that fell last week.

... that we've had water-caused cement problems in both the Sherman Avenue and the Maple Avenue garages. Seems there were two problems in the Sherman Avenue garage: (here's a new word for some, TG suggests) concrete "spalling" (flaking off in chunks) in five places on the 11th floor and damage to some parking-control devices by lightning strikes in August. In the SAG, says facilities manager David Cook, some of the conduits were leaking because of the "freeze-thaw action," which expands the pipes beyond their capacity. The water has been pumped out of the pipes and the ends have been sealed, Mr. Cook said. Over at the MAG, unwanted water accumulated in the sprinkler system, freezing and expanding and splitting the pipes. That is being addressed as well, he said.

... that the City has joined the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Greenest Region Compact of Metropolitan Chicago (if you think it's tough to read that name, try saying it) which promotes cost-effective environmental sustainability measures. The City has already started to implement some of the green goals: Since 1987 the water use in Evanston has decreased by almost 20 percent; the City has signed up to participate in SWANCC's e-waste efforts and is looking for grants to fund e-waste efforts on its own, which will divert televisions, computers and home electronics from the landfill and reduce the City's solid-waste disposal fees; and the City will participate in the Northern Illinois Energy Project's Residential Lighting Program, which will provide about 10,000 free compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to residents of the City.

... speaking of green stuff, the City was one of the winners in the recent can-recycling contest. Yes, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Novelis Inc. and Keep America Beautiful, Inc. recently said we will receive $5,000 to help enhance our recycling programs, and Keep Evanston Beautiful (KEB), Inc. will get $2,500, for participation in the 2007 Cans for Cash National Challenge. Last October, more than 50 cities collected over 190 million tons of used beverage cans. We didn't win top place in our division. Des Plaines did; they recycled 1,120,660 pounds of cans; we recycled only 40,300 pounds. TG hears that Mayor Lorraine Morton vows that Evanston is "just getting started.

... When this community puts its mind to something, anything is possible." You'd think that with all those college students we'd have tons of cans to recycle. Here are some interesting can facts provided by the can contest folks: The aluminum can is the country's most recycled beverage container and has been for more than 20 years. In 2006, U.S. recyclers recovered nearly 52 percent of the more than 100 billion aluminum beverage cans produced in the country. Still, more than a billion dollars worth of aluminum cans went unrecovered.

... that the four-way stop sign at Michigan Avenue and Kedzie Street came at the request of residents who expressed concerns about the safety of children walking to school.

... that the City settled on a total cost $7,569,254 for the sale of 303 parking spaces in the Sherman Avenue parking garage to the Sherman Plaza Partnership for the residents of the condominiums, which are part of the development. That's about $25,000 per parking space.

... that the emerald ash borer is attacking more trees. Paul D'Agostino, director of parks and recreation for the City, reported that the City has discovered that an additional 167 ash trees are infected: 73 at Lovelace Park; 55 in public parkways; 18 on private property; and 21 in other public places. Virtually all of the trees are located north of Central Street. The City has focused its search in northern Evanston so far, because the emerald ash borer was first spotted last year in Wilmette and is apparently working its way down. Mr. D'Agostino said all of the City's infected trees will be removed in the next four to six weeks. Meanwhile, the City will expand its search south. Apparently, woodpeckers help in the search because they like to feed on the emerald ash borers. Follow the woodpeckers to infected trees.

... that the heads of three green companies or research institutes have proposed in an article appearing in Scientific American (Jan. 2008) that massive photovoltaic farms be established on 30,000 square miles of otherwise barren land in the Southwest. They say the Southwest has 250,000 square miles of land suitable for constructing solar power plants, and that converting only 2.5 percent of the solar radiation in that area into electricity would match the nation's total energy consumption in 2006. The price tag is $400 billion to complete the plan by 2050. The benefits include eliminating 300 large coal-fired power plants and 300 large natural gas plants and all the fuels they consume, and eliminating all imported oil. Talk about following Daniel Burnham's admonition to "make no little plans."  Check out the discussion here click on Discussions, then Technology.

... Speaking of technology (though we weren't) and the information superhighway, TG hears the Library launched its new website last week. The Library folks promise that this one is even easier to use. One of the new features, they say, is a new multifunction search feature called "Quick Search" that will allow users to search any topic across the Library's entire holdings with one entry. For instance, an entry for "Abraham Lincoln" in the search box will produce a list of reference materials, including magazines and newspaper articles, books and reviews of books about Lincoln, movies and much more. Anyone with questions or needing assistance should call the Library's Reference Department, 847-448-8630. Live help is also available via the website.

From our readers:
TG: The Poplar bike route to Wilmette curves to use Woodbine. See this map.

From TG: Thanks for clarifying that.

TG:  The lights at Ridge Avenue at both Main and Oakton streets have been revised to let left turns proceed without oncoming traffic, similar to the pattern before the new lights were installed.
- Jim Weiland

From TG: Sounds like the complaints from neighbors and others were heard.

TG: I'd like to comment on something that Gretchen Livingston mentioned in her letter to Traffic Guy in the Jan. 23 issue. I, too, have been vexed by the number of people, at least in the northwest corner of Evanston, who do not shovel their sidewalks after a snowfall. It's not at all uncommon to see people, including children on their way to school, walking in the street because the sidewalks are impassable.

A few weeks ago I contacted someone at the City's Public Works department and was told that Property Standards would send an inspector out to monitor the conditions in my area and contact any property owners in violation of snow removal ordinances. I was also given some names and numbers of staff members to contact directly if the situation did not improve.

I am happy to say that in a few cases there has been improvement, but not everywhere. I would urge Ms. Livingston and other residents concerned about winter safety to contact Streets and Sanitation at 847-866-2940, or email. Perhaps if more people make their voices heard, property owners will start getting the
message.
- Cheryl Arvio

The Traffic Guy thinks...

... here's a budget plan for you: The City proposes to save $338,000 by not purchasing the fungicide to protect elm trees from Dutch elm disease. City crews will still spend the same amount of time, we're told, only the time will be spent removing dead elms (about 250 per year) instead of injecting them with the protective fungicide.

... kudos to the foresighted folks at Streets & San., who ordered more street salt for Evanston on the last day possible, making sure we had enough for the last and maybe future snowstorms.

... don't forget to dig out those fire hydrants so they can be found in the snow.