Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy Hears ...

... that Oakton Street will be temporarily blocked off at Ridge Avenue, east and west, to allow for the construction there. Things there are supposed to be back to normal by 7 a.m. on Friday. Remember the overall Ridge construction layout is this (from the City folks): Through 5 a.m. on July 31, southbound Ridge Avenue traffic detours through Greenleaf Street to Asbury Avenue to Howard Street, then east on Howard Street to Ridge. Southbound CTA buses #210 Central/Ridge and #206 Evanston Circulator buses will be rerouted off Greenleaf and down Asbury Avenue. Customers can board and exit buses on any corner on Asbury between Greenleaf and Howard Streets.

... that the City recently approved the Phase I engineering services for the Sheridan Road corridor, from South Boulevard up north to the Wilmette city limits. Remember, we transferred to Wilmette ownership of that portion of Sheridan Road between Isabella and the Wilmette city limits. Folks at Streets and San say their crews are out every day trying to get ahead of the potholes, especially along Sheridan, Main, Ridge and Dempster streets to which Ridge Avenue has been diverted.

... that this spring or summer the City will resurface Payne between Central Park and Hartrey and Ewing between Elgin Road and Grant Street. Crews will also pave the alley north of Thayer and east of Reese.

The sign on this bus alternates between "Go, Cubs" and "Not in Service," which TG hopes is not a metaphor nor an omen.

... that this "Not in Service" bus was seen stopped in the middle of McCormick between Bridge and Emerson recently. Soon another bus, also not in service, pulled up next to it and the two buses took off together down Dodge. The sign on the second bus alternated between "Not in Service" and "Go Cubs."

... that the City also approved a contract for a "water and sewer cost-of- services-and-fees study."

Speaking of water, fire and life-safety crews will continue to test fire hydrants through May 31. If your water is discolored afterward, let it run a bit.

... that the City will allow Bethel A.M.E. Church to expand its parking lot in the 1800 block of Lyons. Council members, though, seem to be disinclined to allow an expansion of the Baha'i parking lot in the 1200 block of Central (setbacks are pretty great).

... that, in addition to being a Tree City, U.S.A., Evanston is certified as a "storm-ready" community. Last month, folks from the National Weather Service presented the City with signs to that effect.

... that the City would like residents in the CDBG target area to consider adopting an attractive trash receptacle, a "Fancy Can," to help clean up the neighborhood. Interested community members can visit the City's website, www.cityofevanston.org to determine eligibility, and print and complete an application requesting free fancy cans for a corner or parkway in front of their properties. But you have to do the upkeep - remove the full trash bags from the cans and place them in their trash receptacles for pick up. (You can get additional trash bags from the City.) Call 847-866-2928, ext. 2268.

... that a coyote was seen crossing Green Bay at McCormick a few weeks ago. It was night, but the critter obligingly crossed with the lights and loped into the arboretum.

... that the City is going to install air conditioners in three elevator cars in the Sherman Avenue garage (aka the Sherman Plaza Self Park) - seems the original plans didn't call for air conditioning because coating on the glass windows was supposed to offer protection from the sun's heat. Wrong, say the folks at public works - the temperature in the elevator cars has been measured at 120º F. Max Rubin,
who was facilities manager for the City when the garage was constructed, said the elevator cars, not the entire shaft, would
be cooled.

Speaking of elevators, TG hears there was a bit of a flap over a contract with Otis Elevator for its servicing of elevators in the Civic Center, the municipal service center and the Maple Avenue and Church Street self-parks. Apparently the City let the contract expire, creating a three-year "default" contract and term. The two elevators in the Civic Center have little in common but their decrepitness: One is an old-fashioned traction elevator and the other works on hydraulics. But the traction elevator can't be converted into a hydraulic elevator because there we don't have, and maybe can't get, a piston long enough to get the elevator to the attic floor.

... that a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly by Christopher Leinberger (unhappily for us Evanstonians entitled "The Next Slum") suggests that as an inner-ring suburb, Evanston is doing a lot of things right. Here's a quote: "As the residents of inner-city neighborhoods did before them, suburban homeowners will surely try to prevent the division of neighborhood houses into rental units, which would herald the arrival of the poor. And many will likely succeed, for a time. But eventually, the owners of these fringe houses will have to sell to someone, and they're not likely to find many buyers; offers from would-be landlords will start to look better, and neighborhood restrictions will relax. Stopping a fundamental market shift by legislation or regulation is generally impossible.

"Of course, not all suburbs will suffer this fate. Those that are affluent and relatively close to central cities - especially those along rail lines - are likely to remain in high demand. Some, especially those that offer a thriving, walkable urban core, may find that even the large-lot, residential-only neighborhoods around that core increase in value. Single-family homes next to the downtowns of Redmond, Washington; Evanston, Illinois; and Birmingham, Michigan, for example, are likely to hold their values just fine."
... From our readers:

TG: Regarding your comment in the April 30 RoundTable:

Evanston really needs to find a way to address its habit of balancing the budget on parking fines. We say we support the downtown and other merchants, and then we make it difficult or unpleasant for folks to patronize them.

Since the parking meters do not operate on Sunday, it would be wise of merchants who are closed on Sunday to stay open
that day or stay open later and pick another day of the week to take off. Last Sunday I decided to take advantage of not having
to pay the parking meters, and I did errands in downtown Evanston and on Main Street.

First I went to the Moley Vacuum store on Chicago Avenue, but they were closed. Then I went to Vogue Fabrics, which is open on Sunday, and it was mobbed. Then I went to Dave's Rock Shop and I was very disappointed that they, too, were closed. Too bad; they lost a customer. Then I went to downtown Evanston. Yay, Ayla's was open on Sunday, but unfortunately, they closed just as I was arriving at 4 p.m. I also stopped at the Main Library, Whole Foods, and Barnes & Noble (which never seems to close). But I did notice that some stores that could be attracting customers on Sunday were closed. On Sunday it was also hard to find an open parking space.

On Monday, since it was raining and I didn't want to walk to downtown Evanston, my husband drove me back to Moley and to Ayla's, both of which were virtually empty when I walked in around lunchtime. I was not surprised to see that many meter spaces that had been filled the day before were open on Monday. I also noticed that places that were jammed on Sunday were empty on Monday. So my suggestion is if stores want to attract customers, they should stay open on Sunday and close on Mondays.

Evanstonians apparently are getting fed up with the City Council's mean attempts to gouge its residents because the Council is unable or unwilling to manage the budget in the best interests of Evanston residents and taxpayers. Tax revolt, anyone?
- Kathy Kovacic

From TG: Thanks.

TG: Folks in the 1000 block of Wesley are concerned about the speeding cars there. Seems folks are using Wesley (and possibly other streets) as thoroughfares since Ridge is closed for construction.
"This is a huge issue - an accident waiting to happen." Here's an excerpt that was sent to Steve Bernstein, alderman of the ward:

"I feel compelled to write you because of a problem of speeding cars on the 1000 block of Wesley. Due to the construction on Ridge and overflow on Asbury, we are getting fairly heavy traffic on our block. While bearing our share of the traffic is only fair, a significant number of cars come down our block at 40 mph or better. We have at least 10 children on the block who are under 10 years old and play outside. So this is a situation for a bad accident waiting to happen. About three weeks ago, I filed a complaint with the Evanston police department and was told that the Traffic Control Unit will ‘look into it.' So far, nothing has happened. This is a significant issue for us, and I was wondering what you can help us do about it. Thanks for your time and consideration." - Brian and Ellen Glassman

The Traffic Guy thinks ...

... that docents on the new Chicago Architecture Foundation walking tours in Evanston have stopped further research on downtown buildings since Northwestern locked the doors of the Evanston History Center.

... don't forget the Garden Fair and the Young Evanston Artists (YEA) festival this weekend. These are great home-grown
affairs that enrich the whole community.

The Farmers' Market will open May 17 this month, and next month, there'll be a new market at Church and Dodge. With those markets and the Talking Farm demonstration plot, there's no reason not to eat healthy foods this summer.