On The Road to Eisenhower Detours

The way I look at it, you've got 2 choices - use an alternate route to avoid the Eisenhower construction delays or grab some patience, some good music, prepare for a L O N G commute, and stop complaining!  We're only a couple weeks into a season-long resurfacing project and delays are are ridiculously long and tempers are incredibly short!  That being said, I am here to help!

First, let me update the construction status.  In a nutshell, the inbound Ike/I-290 has 22 miles of continuous lane reductions from I-355 to Sacramento.  The outbound Ike/I-290 has 18 miles of lane reductions from Sacramento to I-88, and from York Road to I-355.  Before April is over, expect the entire 27 miles - Thorndale to the Circle Interchange - to be in full construction mode, with one lane closed in each direction.  **Silver lining - this resurfacing/bridge repair project will be done by late fall of THIS YEAR!

Not so for the Congress Bridge repair work, which is a TWO YEAR project!  Right now we have 2 lanes inbound and 1 lane outbound between Halsted and Wells.  Sometime next week IDOT expects to cross the inbound traffic onto the outbound side of the bridge so they can completely close the inbound or eastbound bridge and repair it this year.  You'll still only have 2 lanes inbound and one lane outbound until late fall.  In early 2011 they'll do the same thing all over again to repair the outbound, or westbound bridge.

2011 is also when the Wacker Drive reconstruction gets into full swing, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.  It's a lot for even me to digest!

By now, you're probably asking yourselves, so when is she going to help us get around this mess?!  Right now!

I've been monitoring the morning drive patterns, obviously while I'm on the air, but I've also been keeping an eye on the patterns and delays during the PM rush from home.  My observations tell me way too many of you are not using alternates, transit or driving!  I can see the shift - the Ike is bottle-necked, then it breaks loose and the Stevenson jams up!  Here are some suggestions...if your commute is somewhere between the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and downtown, try some of these options:  Randolph/Washington (portions are one-way), Roosevelt Road, Cermak or Lake St.  My personal fav is Lake Street because so many people don't like driving under the "el."

If you live in the western burbs, there are no 2 ways about it, your commute is just going to take longer, however, there's no point in sitting in stop and go traffic when mentally, it just feels better to be moving at 30 mph or so!  Again, try Roosevelt or Cermak to the south and North Ave. to the north.  The Kennedy  and Stevenson expressways can be good alternates in the early morning, but forget it in the afternoon

**Traffic Tip - the farther north or south of the Ike construction you go, the lighter the traffic volume** 

One more traffic note - North Avenue in Glendale Heights has lane reductions between Glen Ellyn Road/Main St. and Kuhn.  This is concrete patching and traffic light sensor installation work that is left over from a project that begin in fall of 2009.  IDOT says, weather permitting, they should be done by late May.

I always welcome suggestions from you, the motorist!  In the meantime, I'm heading out, OFF the Eisenhower!

Comments

[Dawn]

Roz, I've been wondering about this for a while and no one seems to know the answer. I'll bet you will! Why do the crews put up the construction barrels and block lanes when they're not doing any work along those sections? I've traveled the Ike for two consecutive weekends west of Oak Park, including the extension, and there's mile after mile of barrels but no work being done. The pavement hadn't even been touched. They seem to put up a lot of barrels and reconfigure them a lot with no apparent reason. On my way to work on the L this morning, east of Oak Park, there was a little section of road that had been torn up, but most of the Ike still hasn't been touched. Thanks for solving the mystery.

[LINDA FRULAND]

HI ROZ, I WATCH YOU EVERY MORNING AT 5:00A NEWS AND TRAFFIC.
THANKS FOR BEING SO INFORMATIVE. PLEASE CAN YOU HELP WITH
MY QUESTION. APRIL 30 I HAVE TO DRIVE FROM SUGAR GROVE,IL
TO MIDWAY AIRPORT FOR A 4:00P FLIGHT TO KANSAS CITY. HOW
LONG OF A COMMUTE WILL IT BE FOR ME. WHEN SHOULD I LEAVE
SURGAR GROVE TO ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR MY FLIGHT. I HAVE
HEARD DIFFERENT STORIES ON DELAYS. I WOULD APPRECIATE IF
YOU COULD EMAIL ME BACK WITH THE INFORMATION

[James from Carpentersville]

Everyone is out of option with the idiots at IDOT doing all roads to Chicago at once...
you said Lake street - fine but part of the from the far west are under construction, Roosevelt/Cermak - one word - POTHOLES...they need to fix those too

[Nancy Guido]

6/29 I have to go to Michigan and Chicago Ave via the Eisenhower. Can we get across the bridge at the Post Office and proceed to Michigan Ave. OK?
Any suggested alternative?
Nancy - Elmwood Park, 6/22/10