Results tagged “congestion”

Officials from Illinois as well as Ohio, Missouri and Indiana have signed on to a development agreement that would use $5 million in federal funding to build the nation's first interstate, truck-only highway lanes along Interstate 70, the Associated Press reports.

A new study by INRIX, "a leading innovator of real-time, historical and predictive traffic information," tells us something most of us already knew: driving in Chicago sucks. According to their most recent list, Chicago ranks third in congestion behind Los Angeles and New York. Okay, but, then again, Chicago is also third in terms of population so this sort of makes sense. The area also boasts several of the worst bottlenecks in the nation. In fact, we contribute 25 of the top 100, including three in the top 20: North-bound Exit 53 (Canalport Ave/Cermak Rd) off of the Dan Ryan (#8), East-bound Exit 17 (US 12/US 20/US 45) off of the Eisenhower Expressway (#10), and - naturally - North-bound Exit 52 (Ruble) off of the Dan Ryan (#19).

The CTA is removing a bunch of buses from service, according to the Sun-Times, "due to a structural crack that was found in one of its 60-foot-long articulated buses." The buses will remain out of service until an independent source can look into the problem, so prepare to get a little closer with your fellow bus passengers as more folks crowd onto available buses. Could someone remind us again why the 2016 Olympic bid didn't include money for transit? Update - The Trib reports that it's actually 200 accordion buses that will be removed from service.

Mayor Daley and the FAA got in a bit of a pissing match over the weekend, with the FAA cooling their jets after a Tribune article published Saturday cited the FAA as stating a 2004 cap on flights would not be lifted after the new runway opened at O’Hare. Flight restrictions were imposed in an effort to help ease flight delays and cancellations, and the two parties came to realize they had different expectations of...

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take...

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the...

There's a stretch of freight train track and pothole-marked road that runs parallel to 41st Street that makes a great shortcut to the southwest side via bicycle, particularly on days where we don't want to fight the congestion of Archer Avenue. A service road at 41st and Ashland allows freight rail employees easy access to the rails. It also dumps us off at the Ashland Avenue Swap-O-Rama. If you've never been to the Swap-O-Rama, you don't know what you're missing. What we were missing was Kiki D's Carnitas, located across the street. After the meal we had this weekend, we wished we'd kept missing it. The sign that once announced its presence is long gone, but the steady foot traffic from Swap-O-Rama customers keeps Kiki D's from totally fading in the background. Service is no-nonsense: walk in, take a number, give your order, follow the line to the check-out counter and avoid the kids hopped up on Mexican soda scurrying around your feet in the process. Meats and homemade pork rinds fill display booths, whetting an appetite that doesn't know what this place has in store.

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making...

Blurring the line between city and suburb, a proposal has been sent to Evanston officials for what would be the largest building in the suburbs. The building, a 49-story condo building, would be situated at Church Street, Orrington Avenue and Sherman Avenue. The triangular shaped lot currently has a two story retail building which would be torn down for the project.

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay...

After months upon months of nothing but terrible to mediocre information, there's good news for public transportation users!

We know you've been writing to Blagojevich, Daley and all the CTA members faithfully each day, pleading for more money for the CTA (ahem). You haven't wanted to give in to your addiction to oil and drive a car, despite all of the ways lawmakers are trying to ease congestion. You may just start hopping around on jets if you get your passenger's bill of rights, but until then, you need some hope that your transportation woes will be addressed.

The Indiana Department of Transportation says quit yer bellyachin'. The proposed "Illiana" expressway route will not be determined by evil, land-grabbing developers; it will be determined by a state environmental study.

One provision of President Bush's proposed budget could affect Chicagoans and city-dwellers all over the country. Bush is proposing a "congestion initiative" that would award federal grants to cities and states for building toll systems that charge drivers new or increased tolls for traveling in and out of cities during peak times. Congestion pricing could take the form of "cordon tolls," charges to enter the city proper, or monthly/annual fees for using High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV)...

Well, it's been an interesting couple weeks for CTA watchers. We won't touch another argument about operating budgets with a ten-foot pole, but there really have been a lot of interesting, hilarious, and downright upsetting news regarding the agency lately. Really, the best (and worst) has been the RTA movie snafu. A rather embarassed head of the Regional Transit Authority apologized today for a video that was shown to Metra officials last week that was...

Architect Santiago Calatrava and developer Garrett Kelleher are making the rounds, looking to generate buzz for their newly redesigned Drill Bit on the Lake. The Chicago Spire (nee Calatrava Spire) as planned will be exceedingly thin and stand around 2,000 feet tall (160 stories): the Manute Bol of skyscrapers. When completed (or if, if you ask Donald “you’re fired” Trump), it could be the world’s tallest, eclipsing Taipei 101 and NYC’s planned Freedom Tower. The...

Drive Less. Live More. The new slogan and website from the Regional Transportation Authority is mostly aimed at providing details and tools for using public transportation. The tools are not necessarily new, some have been around for year, but it is great that the RTA has finally put all of these together in a central site. The site contains commuter calculators, which estimated for us that if we drove to work we would be spending...

The day before the day before the holiday is just getting started, yet we’re already counting down the hours until we can stuff ourselves silly. To get our minds off the siren call of the Ho Ho Freakout, we’re busy making last-minute travel plans.

The debate over the possible locations for the new Children's Museum site flared up at a meeting of the Grant Park Advisory Council. That is to say, of course, that there was some continued opposition to the idea of it even moving to Grant Park.

Hasbro has created a new, modernized version of Monopoly called "Here and Now" featuring popular destinations from around the country, and Chicago scored two spots on the board. O'Hare is available for just $2 million, as four airports replace the railroads. Wrigley Field also made the cut, landing in the green district right between the White House and the Las Vegas Strip. The Friendly Confines cost $3 million in funny money, which, ironically, is just about what the Cubs' roster is worth this year. Houses cost another $2 million each, a little pricey for that neighborhood, what with the congestion and everyone peeing on your lawn after the games. But maybe the Monopoly Wrigley is just like the real life one: when visitors play there, they almost always win!

There are two kinds of drivers in Chicago: those who park for convenience, be it a lot, a garage or the street, and those who take pride in their resolve to always park on the street, more specifically in a non-metered spot. How do you recognize someone in the latter group? They usually announce their victory over “the system” as soon as they reach their destination.

If you rely on the Dan Ryan Expressway to get anywhere on a regular basis, we feel really sorry for you. Starting on April 1, the Illinois Department of Transportation will begin a major renovation of the roadway that is scheduled to last for nearly two years. The construction will modernize the Dan Ryan, which now handles twice as much traffic as it was originally built to handle, but in the meantime it will take...

As far as excuses go you can't do much better than having to shovel the walkway in front of your house to have a hot toddy. Chicagoist long ago stopped coming up with excuses and nowadays makes toddies whenever the urge comes, usually in conjunction with the deep seated chills.

Citing longer response times due to increased congestion downtown, the city fire department is considering having paramedics use Segway scooters. Emergency response times have risen thirty seconds over the first part of the year because of more buildings and construction projects downtown and increased congestion around Millennium Park.

Some of you may know that way back in 1904, Chicago was supposed to host the Olympics... until St. Louis stole the games away! So Chicago has yet to host the Olympics.

Are you like Chicagoist? Does the warmer weather coupled with the tourist-laden congestion of the city make you yearn for a simpler life? (Tourists…we love you! Please continue to visit! You help keep our sales tax down to a manageable 8.75%!). Do you have visions of turning your 10 x 10 patio into a Martha Stewart/P. Allen Smith heaven, without the jail time or southern drawl? But then, like Chicagoist, you realize you’d never find Thai food, you’d actually have to brew your own coffee, and the neighbor’s dog already does unmentionable things to the sad-sack plants you do try to grow outside. Your answer? Farmer’s Markets! They are all over the city and suburbs, and to ignore them is to ignore the bounty that is…oh, whatever, they’re cheaper than Dominick’s and Jewel and they stay fresher longer as well (as has been our experience).

Is that bar 3 doors down from your apartment keeping you up at night with its loud music? Is it attracting the wrong kind of people to your neighborhood? The kind that puke in your yard and leave trash all over your stoop? Well, kick them out! Tell them you don't want them in your neighborhood! It's about to get easier than you thought.

You might wanna watch out where you double park your car in the central business district. As part of Daley's traffic plan, starting today the new "fast tow" program will whisk your car away and you'll be up to your ears in fines.

Feel like your commute is sooooooooooo looooooooonngg? And there can't be anyone who spends more time getting to and from work than you do? Well, you're almost right. The Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey reported yesterday that Chicagoans have one of the longest commutes in the country. Only New Yorkers spend more time commuting than we do. Chicago ranks second in the nation for big cities (250,000 people or more), with an average one-way...

Mayor Daley is in Los Angeles this week studying the city's Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system, a network of computers, surveillance cameras and other traffic sensors that automatically adjust the timings on traffic signals to alleviate congestion. If the automatic adjustments don't work, workers can access any of the surveillance cameras to observe the problem and send police or traffic officers if necessary. The system also includes street sensors that will extend a green light for buses that arrive late at their stop.