Traffic Guy

The Traffic Guy hears...

... that, as everyone knows, summer seems to turn after the Fourth of July. Here's a picture of the first cicada TG has seen. (TG realizes that not everyone will call this a cicada and eagerly awaits entomological clarification.)

One big summer bug - a dog-day cicada.
Photo by Mary Mumbrue

... that the Plan Commission adjourned a few minutes early last week when a skunk blessed the Civic Center and the fragrance came through the windows.

These eyesores, if they are on parkways, can be screened with vines and other plantings at AT&T's expense.

... that those AT&T Lightspeed boxes seen around town may be here to stay. Recent state law allows AT&T to put these boxes into communities for competition's sake. These big boxes have to connect with existing AT&T boxes, so you'll find them for the most part in pairs. At first there were going to be nearly 120 of them but now it's said to be just fewer than 100. They're going to be installed in parkways and alleys. Money is available - $1,500 per box - to screen these boxes on three sides. The money is from AT&T but is available through the City's Parks/Forestry Department, 847-866-2900.

... that the next phase of traffic patterns for Ridge Avenue kicked in last week. Might the two Evanston buses - the Southbound #201 Central/Ridge and the #206 Evanston Circulator - now rerouted onto Asbury between Greenleaf and Howard, be back in operation on Ridge as of July 31?

... that, speaking of street repairs, the City seems to have construction projects all over. Most of these are being paid for by us, locally; however, some of our state and federal tax dollars are at work on these projects: Forest from Main to Davis; Sheridan from South to Main and from Euclid Park Place to the Wilmette city limits; Isabella from Sheridan to the CTA tracks and Lake from McDaniel to Elmwood. Check out the City's website (cityofevanston.org - a fabulous resource) for information about these and other construction projects, brought to you by your local Capital Improvement Program.

... that Ferris Homes, which is building the 49-unit condo building at Emerson and Green Bay (at the curve just south of the intersection), has dedicated about 1700 feet of property adjacent to the alley to the City, which will allow the alley there to be widened. It's part of the public improvement promised when the developer received approval for the planned development there. The alley was vacated a while ago, Public Works director John Burke said, but nothing was formalized until all the work was done and it was clear there were no "environmental problems." It will be "right-turn-only" onto Emerson from the alley.

These plants give street cred to neighborhood beautification.

... that 55 of these corner parkways in the RT neighborhood are being planted with native and drought-resistant perennials - courtesy of good planning by the neighborhood in making use of the neighborhood improvement fund from Evanston Plaza. The funds also went for bicycle helmets for local kids and for sponsoring kids to play on local soccer teams.

... that, as of July 3, historic protections for the Great Lakes have now cleared the legislatures of all eight states bordering the Great Lakes. Work on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact now enters its final stage as it prepares to move to the U.S. Congress for ratification. In Canada, lawmakers in the provinces bordering the Great Lakes signed a companion agreement embarking on a parallel process that respects Canadian laws.

... that basements in south Evanston were flooded over the weekend. City information says a bladder was placed by Kenny Construction crews in a sewer on Elmwood just south of Lake to minimize flow into the Lake Street sewer under normal conditions. However, with the rain over the weekend, the bladder did not fully deflate but plugged the sewer completely, creating a blockage and sending stormwater backward into basements and homes. The City says Kenny Construction is taking responsibility for the problem; the contact is Baldemar Corral, 847-674-6326.

... that the City recently clarified its "booting" ordinance to make sure that new sections repealed former sections. Basically, here's the deal: Any registered owner of a vehicle with five or more unpaid parking tickets (as finally determined, because there was an administrative adjudication or because the owner did not contest them, e.g.) will receive a notice that the vehicles will be put on an "immobilization list." Speaking of immobilization (in a way), TG hears that the Evanston Marching Kazoo Band, a prominent part of the Fourth of July parade since 1975, was marked by its absence in the most recent parade. An EMKB member said there were "incidents" last year that kept them from the parade this year - whether by default, exile or choice.

... that a tight race is said to be forming in the seventh annual "America's Best Public Restroom" contest." Cincinnati-based Cintas is holding the contest, and the company reports "this year's ten finalists have established a new standard for restroom quality." Vote online though July 31 at www.bestrestroom.com.

The banned band. 2005 Fourth of July parade photo by Evanston Photographic Studios

This year's finalists are washrooms in the Grand Central Terminal, New York, N.Y.; the Montville Inn, Montville, N.J.; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.; 21C Museum Hotel, Louisville, Kent.; the Hermitage Hotel, Nashville, Tenn.; Signature Room at the 95th, Chicago; Brio Restaurant, Rockford; Jerome Bettis' grille 36, Pittsburgh; Iowa 80 Truck Stop, Walcott, Ia. (the World's Largest Truck Stop); El Monte Sagrado Living, Taos, N.M. Cintas says what all these bathrooms have in common is that they are "exceptionally clean."

From our readers:

TG: Crossing Sheridan Road to the dog beach (near the boat dock entrance, even in the crosswalk that is marked with very large signs) is impossible. Could the City please put a large pedestrian sign in the middle of the street?

No one stops.
I stand with a cane and a dog, and no one stops.
When the cars on my side let up, I have stepped off the curb into the crosswalk and waited for space to cross the other lane - no one stops.
Then the cars on my side start up again, so I have to get back up on the lane - no one stops.
People should be ticketed for not stopping. I stopped for someone in a crosswalk the other day, and the person started to cross and a car came around behind me and almost hit the pedestrian. It was the worst - cars coming north around the Davis Street curve cannot be seen when you are going to the park.
- Alice Barnes
From TG: Vehicles' ignoring - or worse - pedestrians in a crosswalk or trying to get into a crosswalk is unconscionable. Emergency vehicles we all could understand, but, otherwise, no one should be in that big a hurry. A couple of people have alerted us to similar problems in the crosswalks on Central Street - at Stewart, in front of Foodstuffs, and at the west jog of Prairie, where a couple was killed a few years ago. Remember, folks, if there is someone in a crosswalk, that person has the right-of-way.

Folks, watch out for pedestrians.

TG: Before you become a group of more than two people wanting a center turn lane on Ridge Avenue, I want to direct your attention to the stretch of Green Bay that runs through Wilmette, and to the traffic snafus there at most times of the day, ever since the Kohl Children's Museum moved.

Evanston works quite well with two lanes in each direction on Ridge. There will be new bike routes along the lake. If riders want a more central route, try Maple or Wesley; they're well-paved and quiet.

Also, I'd like to point out that, although you lauded, you misjudged, the new traffic flow stop lights installed on Ridge last fall that kept traffic moving north and south and added brief left-turn signals. Someone eventually had the good sense to notice that cars were backed up and new accidents were happening at Ridge and Main because the individual signals allowing separate N-S-E-W traffic had been removed, and they have since been reinstituted. Yeah!

With all the new condos still going up in Evanston and north, the cars will only increase on Ridge, even with the fuel crisis. We need to keep the two lanes in each direction and leave well enough alone.
Friends of Ridge, unite!- Sally Riessen Hunt

From TG: Thanks for your letter, but TG does not think you have to worry about the "group of two" becoming any larger. Read on.

TG: I really enjoy your column, but I don't think your three-lane idea for Ridge Avenue is workable. In contrast to upper McCormick, Ridge has too many stop lights and too much traffic for this plan to work. When cars start up from a stop there is a delay in getting the stopped line of cars all moving through the light.

Two lanes of traffic can flow through intersections with stoplights approximately twice as fast as one lane. I don't believe that there would be enough left turners to compensate for the delay in traffic moving forward. Therefore, traffic on Ridge
during busy times will move at almost half the speed it currently takes to transit Evanston.

I know that left-turners now delay through traffic, but there's sometimes a way around a left-turner (traffic permitting) and there's no recourse on a three-lane street. This will annoy many people.

A second problem with your idea is what this delay will mean for surrounding streets. As people try to avoid a slower Ridge Avenue they will continue to overload parallel and cross streets.

During the current construction period, which admittedly detours more drivers than your suggested plan, it has been very difficult to use Dempster, Oakton, Asbury, Chicago and Dodge as early as 3 p.m. and on weekends. This has affected not only drivers transiting the area but also those who live within the area bounded by these streets.

For example, on Dempster, traffic backs up to Wesley or Florence north, and I have seen it in rush hour solid from Dodge to Maple. I have also noticed many more cars using the Florence/Crain or Florence/Greenleaf "detour" when traffic is backed up at Dempster and Dodge.

I can put up with this during construction, but I hate to think of having to put up with even a modified version in order to make Ridge more beautiful. So I am hoping that you will rethink your recommendation.
- Lola Himrod

From TG: TG appreciates your thoughtful response and does not think you and Ms. Hunt have anything to worry about.

The Traffic Guy thinks ...

... that this weather is bringing out some pretty careless bikers. Please remember that, although a helmet is likely to protect your skull, you're going to need even greater protection if your head thinks it's O.K. to run stop signs and stop lights and ride on the wrong side of the road.

Hope everyone enjoyed the Ethnic Arts Festival. Don't forget the Lake Shore Arts Festival next weekend, sponsored in part by you-know-who.