Measures in Springfield this week would bring nearly half of Chicago under the watch of speed cameras designed to catch fast drivers. A push for public safety or revenue grab at the loss of privacy? more ›

A plan proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel would charge downtown motorists a $2-a-day "congestion fee" to help fund a new CTA Green Line station near McCormick Place and establish express bus lanes downtown. more ›

The Tribune calls many of City Inspector General Ferguson's suggestions "politically poisonous," and they definitely are -- but at least he's thinking outside the box. more ›

Our friends over at the Expired Meter believe last month's rules of the road crackdown on cyclists didn't go far enough. more ›

Good Morning, everyone. We sincerely hope all the mothers out there received their proper respects yesterday. On this date 25 years ago, Council Wars effectively came to an end when Mayor Harold Washington gained enough support to finally make key appointments. We mention this because it's Mayor Richard Daley's final week in office, which will become another historic occasion. Ald. Ed Burke noted last week that it's rare for a Chicago Mayor to leave the office of his own volition. Daley will be the first to do so since Ed Kelly in 1947. more ›

A 47-year-old bus driver is being held in connection with a fatal bus accident yesterday when he allegedly ran his tour bus over a 26-year-old woman near NBC Tower yesterday. The woman, identified as Justyna Palka, was crossing the street and had the right of way when the bus rolled over her around 7 p.m. last night. Palka was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 7:04 p.m. and the driver has not been charged as of yet. NBC Chicago posted eyewitness video of the accident. more ›

The city finally revealed its long-planned renovation project for the labyrinthine intersection at Elston, Fullerton and Damen that's confounded commuters for years. That six corners intersection flummoxes an average of 70,000 commuters a day and is one of the banes of 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack's existence. Waguespack says he receives more calls about this intersection than anything else and believes that the development in recent years around the intersection makes rehabbing it a priority. more ›

If you bike regularly throughout the city, chances are good that either you or a cyclist you know has been injured by a motorist getting out of his vehicle. Doorings are arguably the biggest threat to Chicago cyclists, but the Illinois Department of Transportation has said that having police departments keeping records on them would be a burden, because they didn't think it was that big an issue. (Tell that to cyclists who have lost work days and amassed medical bills recovering from injuries related to doorings.) more ›

With the meltdown of the Northside CTA this morning, a number of our fellow Chicagoans were late for work this morning (including some of your beloved Chicagoist's staff). Being stuck in traffic in Russia, unlike here in Chicago, presents its own set of challenges, and a unique solution to something that's aggravated man since the invention of the automobile. more ›

Tonight is the first night game of the Cubs 2011 home season, which means the immediate area around Wrigley Field, already strained for street parking during day games, becomes, in the words of Ted Nugent, a free-for-all. We never cease to be amazed at the number of people going to the game who are willing to be gouged by residents living near the park renting their parking spaces for exorbitant fees. the city will also have ticket writers out and about to drum up city revenue more ›

Prior to last night's debate on WTTW, Miguel del Valle held a press conference at the intersection of Halsted and Madison, where he said that he would review how the city is implementing its red light camera program if elected mayor and would reform what he called "oppressive" city driving and parking policies. more ›

Police are investigating a hit-and-run that happened last night at the intersection of State and Monroe that left two women critically injured at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. more ›

A new study released by the Texas Transportation Institute on traffic congestion showed that Chicago has the worst commute in the country. The numbers they used to measure Chicago and other cities across the nation were from 2009, but they still tell a pretty damning story about how much time drivers spend on the expressways braking and starting and braking and starting and cursing and braking and starting. more ›

Looks like the on-again, off-again Wacker Drive construction project will be on-again, weather permitting. more ›

Earlier this morning, we mentioned that the weather outside was "bowling shoe ugly." So far, it's more than living up to that description. more ›

It looks as though some suburbs are starting to have second thoughts about expanding the use of red light cameras. The reason? A drop in revenue. more ›

WBEZ is reporting that a fire broke out this morning between the North/Clybourn and Clark/Division subway stations on the Red Line. If you're taking the Red Line, plan accordingly for delays. more ›

A major fire broke out near Lincoln and Wellington about an hour ago. The fire started at the Peerless Imported Carpet building at 3033 N. Lincoln and that the fire had spread. There are reports (unsubstantiated) that the second building that caught fire houses Lincoln Tap Room. more ›

Red Line trains were delayed this morning when a train operator who was checking on an equipment malfunction somehow managed to slip on the tracks. The incident happened around 10 a.m. at the Granville Station. Power was shut off from Thorndale to Howard and shuttle buses were running from Belmont to Howard. Power was eventually restored at 10:45. more ›

Tomorrow is December, which means that the city's overnight parking ban goes into effect this evening. The ban will affect 107 miles of vital arterial streets from 3-7 a.m., through April 1, regardless of snowfall. Here's a handy map for the overnight parking ban (PDF). more ›

Between early holiday shopping, folks scrambling to get their Thanksgiving groceries and running errands, tourists coming downtown for the lighting of Michigan Avenue and the Northwestern-Illinois game at Wrigley Field, traffic, to be frank, is going to be a bitch tomorrow. more ›

President Obama is scheduled to be at a rally along Midway Plaisance tomorrow, which means that traffic around the Plaisance and the University of Chicago will be strictly monitored. more ›

• Tom Dart still isn't saying anything about a mayoral run even as a Rahmbo run becomes more likely.
• Today in "What is wrong with people?" - President Obama is still having to defend his faith.
• Downtown traffic was temporarily disrupted today by a suspicious package.

Dave Matthews Band begins their two-night run at Wrigley Field this evening - you may have noticed Sheffield closed down between Addison and Clark as crews set up - and that means there will be some Cubs-like traffic restrictions and snarls around Wrigleyville even though the Cubs are 1,000 miles away in Florida for the weekend. According to The Expired Meter, the typical Cubs night game parking restrictions will be in place for the shows this weekend: more ›

According to Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig via the Chicago Sun-Times, the percentage of Illinois drivers using seat belts has hit a new high, with an estimated 92.6 percent of drivers and front-seat passengers choosing to buckle up. Traffic deaths in the first six months of 2010 were down 16.8 percent--only 361 in the first half, compared with 434 in 2009. Seat-belt use has also gone up by 16 percent since 2003, which could be attributed to the state law that changed in 2004 and gave police the right to stop drivers solely for not wearing their seat belts. more ›

A new report claims that charging motorists to use faster-moving lanes will help control tollway and expressway congestion, especially during rush hours. The findings come from a federally funded study on congestion pricing by the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Illinois Tollway. more ›

While grilling out, having a cold one and watching the Blackhawks is on many of our Memorial Day weekend agendas, some 20,000 cyclists will be hitting Lake Shore Drive Sunday morning for the ninth annual Bike the Drive, taking over a 15 mile stretch along LSD for most of the morning. Participants can start their (self-powered) engines beginning at 5:30 a.m., after which cars are verboten until 10:30 a.m. when vehicular traffic is allowed to return. The closures will affect LSD from Hollywood all the way down to 59th St., so plan for detours along that route. Near the event entry points, Jackson Blvd. in Grant Park will also be closed, though drop-offs are allowed between 4 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Congress Circle at Michigan Ave. Bikers can enter north of Randolph or south of Roosevelt - crosswalks to Lakeshore Drive will be blocked at Monroe, Jackson and Balbo. more ›

It's Memorial Day weekend, the start of the traditional summer traveling season, as well as a three-day holiday weekend for lots of folks. And that also means traffic. Throw in a visit from the President, all that construction, and a new report about truck bottlenecks and you've got yourself a recipe for lots of traffic news. IDOT Communications Manager Josh Kauffman told The Expired Meter, “Plan on the whole weekend being very busy. I think it’s something that needs to be taken into consideration.” And expect traffic to start getting worse this afternoon as people head out early for an even longer weekend. Joe Collins, WBBM Newsradio 780’s traffic reporter, told the Meter, "People try to avoid Friday’s traffic by taking an extra day off and leaving Thursday." Adding to the congestion will be plenty of construction projects, including the ongoing Eisenhower resurfacing. Oh, and with it being a holiday weekend, expect a few DUI checkpoints as well as a step up in the enforcement of the state's Click It Or Ticket campaign. more ›

A dog has made traffic on the Ike a bit of fun the last few days. more ›

A few dozen protesters gathered at Addison and Western on Valentine's Day to shake their collective fists at the city's red light cameras. The protest was part of a larger nationwide effort to fight the spread of red light cameras by the Liberty Restoration Project. The Expired Meter reports the Chicago effort was spearheaded by Republican Scott Tucker, who is running for State representative in the 11th district. In an interview before the demonstration, Tucker told The Expired Meter “I think it’s a quality of life issue… it’s a tax presented as public safety.” more ›