If it's Friday, that means there's work coming on the CTA. See the details here. And as always, leave extra time.
It's not all construction all the time. On Saturday, an eight-car Orange Line train will function as a moving art gallery. For $5 between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., you can take in some art and take a ride around the Loop. See here for details.
South suburbanites, watch out -- the big trucks and orange cones are coming to Harlem Avenue.
Starting Sept. 2, The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that, weather permitting, it will start a patching and resurfacing project on Harlem Ave./IL Rt. 43 from Southwest Highway/IL Rt. 7 to 159th St./U.S. Rt. 6 in Palos Heights, Orland Park, Tinley Park and Worth.
According to IDOT, the project will be carried out in two phases this fall and next spring and early summer.
This fall, the work will consist of pavement patching, removing and replacing sections of deteriorated curb and gutter and work on box culverts. Work will continue through Oct. 31, and will require daily lane closures at various times in both directions.
IDOT advises motorists to take alternate routes to avoid delays.
A public meeting on extending the Yellow Line will be held tonight at 6 p.m. at National Louis University in Skokie, 5202 Old Orchard Rd. An expanded Yellow Line could provide connections to Old Orchard mall and the Cook County Courthouse. See this CTA press release for more details.
Who was the Chicago businessman behind those wonderful old CTA and South Shore Line posters, and of what crime was he acquitted?
The answer is Samuel Insull, a former secretary to Thomas Edison, who was one of the biggest men in Chicago before the stock market crash. He took the stand in his own defense and was acquitted on fraud and other charges, but never got his position back and died in Europe. Edward Bryant was the first reader with the correct answer, and if he can send me an e-mail with his address and preferred T-shirt size, I'll send him his shirt. Thanks to everyone who played.
Today's "Ride" column features George Zrust, who decided along with his wife Nancy Sreenan to try going without their car for the summer. It's an interesting experiment to live up to your own environmental ideals and try to do without America's favorite way to travel.
It's the weekend, which means there must be construction on the CTA. See all the gory details here, and, altogether now, allow extra time.
If you're curious about Canadian National Railway's proposed purchase of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway and its effect on railway traffic in the suburbs, public meetings are being held around the Chicago area to present the findings of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and receive public comment. Should be lively, at least occasionally...
The CTA is still looking for part-time bus drivers -- which can turn into a full-time job. The CTA press release is pasted below:
It's kind of the warm-weather version of putting an old lawn chair in your shoveled-out parking space -- getting your passenger to stand in a vacant space to "hold it" while you drive around the block. I heard from one reader who said it drives him absolutely crazy when people do this. It doesn't bother me much when I see it -- but I think it's kind of a rude thing to do to your passenger. What do you think?
A study commissioned by the City of Chicago found that 48 intersections had 5 or more pedestrian crashes in two years. The years studied were 2003 and 2005, because that's when the University of North Carolina Research Center could get information for intersection crashes. So the data's a little dated, but still interesting. Here's the complete list:
