I stumbled onto this article in today's Sun-Times on why the Kennedy Expressway is so brutal coming downtown all day long. It's a good start, but there's more to it than "it's the construction project" at the downtown ramps.
Think about how the commute goes. Inbound in the morning, you have the express lanes and the local lanes at your choosing. Both come together right at the point where the left lane closes for the construction. Congestion factor #1.
Then remember the reversibles close between 11am and 1pm so that IDOT can flip the gate outbound. That means two lanes disappear into the "cone zone." Congestion factor #2.
Finally, the reverse commute. People do live in the city and commute out to suburbs for work. At some point they have to come home. Congestion factor #3.
On average, you're looking at an hour from the airport all day. Maybe up to an hour and a half at the height of rush hour. Plus add in a crash, or heavy traffic from the Edens Expressway, and it just gets worse. Let's just hope the construction workers hurry up.
**Today sucked on the roads for a lot of reasons. The rain hasn't helped all week. Plus, some kids are back in school and that means teachers go to work and parents are back in the office for the long haul. Vacation time is over. The Ike was bad in both directions. The Bishop Ford couldn't figure out how to make an outbound crash go away at 134th, so both directions suffered. Plus, a grocery store fire in Round Lake, a car into a building in Niles, a rollover pin-in crash in Streamwood, AND the Chesterton mess.
One chatter said I "earned my $$$$ today." Not really. This isn't work. But we all were a little bit busier than we have been lately.
**Speaking of Chesterton, the damage was incredible from last night's storm. If it wasn't a tornado, then straight line winds of 105 mph can't be any more fun. Power seems to be back to normal (NIPSCO does a pretty good job of keeping us informed of that). But watch out for debris on the roadways as you travel thru town.
Make sure you check back for the latest video and pictures from the storms. If you have any that might be affecting traffic (you know, like a tree in the road or on a car) be sure to send me that!
**The appearance train chugs around Chicagoland this week:
-Friday night: Join me as I host the IADT Fashion Show at the Schaumburg Prairie Center. Come out and watch a lot of hotness work the runway. The doors fly open at 7:30 PM. Nearly 150 garments on display, but I'll be providing my own purchased clothing, thank you!
-Sunday afternoon: If you got it, flaunt it!! I'm hosting the FAME National Talent Search at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. Open auditions are Saturday at 9AM. The top 10 will compete Sunday afternoon to impress the judges. They are Rockit Ranch CEO and Chicago promoter Billy Dec (who's been everywhere lately!), B96's Rebecca Ortiz, and David Viggiano from down the dial at FOX 32.
The Finals are at 4PM Sunday. Plus a special performance by V-Factory, an upstart pop/dance group that I've actually heard of. (I like my dance and techno sometimes. Gotta keep an ear to the ground)
The winner heads to Hollywood, for a chance to win $5,000 and a contract! Not bad huh.
**Dance Friday tomorrow! See you then
