If you were one of the red arrows, I'm sorry. It wasn't a good day for folks on I-55. This is what it looked like at its worst. A dead stop from US 30 to I-355. Then after that, you had more delays resulting from an early morning crash at Pulaski. Those started at LaGrange and crawled all the way to California.
Two hours and 15 minutes.
I know you cringe at that, but remember that it will be much worse in the snow. That's coming soon. Andy Avalos said the words "wind" and "chill" in succession today. Not sure how I feel about that. In any event, it's the fall. That means traffic gets worse, but the drives are prettier with all the fall colors. Soon I'll be making my trip up Sheridan Road as I do every year just to take a look at the folliage. Not exactly something that sounds manly, but hey I love the fall. There's nothing like it.
If you have a "pretty drive" that you'd like to share, snap a picture and send it to me. I'll put them in the blog, and i'll show them air. (Kinda like Brant's weather pics, but with a two lane road in them)
**The Tri-State project near 95th Street is done, kind of. Northbound lanes this morning opened up to FOUR most of the way from 159th Streeet up to 95th. They'll keep working on those sound walls so we don't disturb Worth, the Friendly Village. The Cicero Interchange should be open without problems. 95th Street has all the ramps open to I-294.
See, we finish projects around here. Who needs the Olympic money eh? More projects will wrap up in the coming weeks. We'll have them first!
**Good reading for everyone today, let's start with this gem that Jon Hilkevitch cooked up in the Chicago Tribune this morning. This bridge is a major concern, but no shocker that getting the information was the hard part.
Next up is the conversation no one wants to have in NW Indiana. The Illiana Expressway. This article in the Trib does the best job to date of explaining the issues at hand with the proposed expressway. Take a peek, tell me what you think. I have some thoughts on this issue and I think I might put them in writing on Wednesday. Stay tuned, but send me your emails.
Finally, this piece is a lot of fun. A little love to the Seattle Times. Bob Condotta and Danny O'Neil cover Washington football and they just so happen to be in South Bend this weekend for the Huskies game against the Irish in the rain. These two gentlemen cataloged their experience trying to get from Chicago to South Bend while killing time on "I-something-or-another." Light and cute, just the way you like it.
**My last note is a thank you to all the well wishers and the heartfelt condolences sent from all the viewers in the last week. It was an up and down week with my grandfather passing away and being honored with four nominations for the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards a day after he was buried. I took a week off from the blog to recharge the batteries, but I think he'd want me to get back at it.
So forward we march. Together. Thank you everyone.
