By Tim Zorn, Post-Tribune Staff
Writer
“Road work ahead/Expect delays”
That portable-sign message has greeted motorists along the Borman Expressway
(Interstates 80 and 94) near Cline Avenue for more than a year. By now, its
message may just be part of the background for most who drive past.
But it will be more meaningful soon.
Every major highway route from Indiana into the Chicago area is, or will be,
under construction this year.
And one of the projects — the Dan Ryan Expressway reconstruction on Chicago’s
South Side — will cause more severe traffic dislocations than usual.
For the next two years, one stretch of that expressway will have only half of
its usual capacity.
Between 31st and 71st streets, only the local lanes on the Dan Ryan will be
open for traffic while the express lanes are being torn up and rebuilt.
That’s the most heavily affected section of the Dan Ryan, but construction
also will be going on north of 31st Street and south of 71st Street.
Illinois and Chicago highway officials are asking car drivers to use Chicago
streets instead of the Ryan while the construction is going on.
Heavy trucks are to stay on the expressway, which is still to have three
lanes in each direction during the construction.
Borman Expressway drivers who stay in Indiana won’t have to worry about
construction, because the work along Indiana’s stretch of the interstate ended
early last fall. A project to rebuild the Borman/Interstate 65 intersection is
to start next year, so there’s a reprieve this year.
For everyone else — expect delays.
Time to break out of routines
For drivers who use the Dan Ryan, the Illinois Department of Transportation
suggests two major alternates during construction.
On the east: Stony Island Avenue to Lake Shore Drive, which goes to the Loop
and the North Side.
On the west: 103rd Street to Halsted Street to 95th Street to Ashland Avenue,
then north on Ashland to Roosevelt Road (12th Street) at the south end of the
Loop.
Drivers from Indiana also sometimes take U.S. 41 from Hammond through the
Chicago’s southeast side to Lake Shore Drive.
“I avoid the Dan Ryan at all costs anyway,” said Munster resident John Dodge,
a senior editor for CBS-Channel 2.
To get to his job, he usually takes the Chicago Skyway to Stony Island Avenue
and Lake Shore Drive. It’s about an hour-long trip in rush hour, 45 minutes
otherwise.
He doesn’t know if he’ll still take that route when the Dan Ryan work starts
and drivers start using other routes.
“I’m worried that other people are going to discover that alternative,” he
said. “Will it force me to take the train? It might.”
Roadwork elsewhere
In addition to the Dan Ryan road work, expect to see construction along these
routes:
Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294 around Chicago, often used for going to
O’Hare Airport) — Construction to add a lane between the Kingery Expressway
(Interstate 80/94 in Illinois) and 167th Street. Three lanes are to be open in
each direction, but traffic is shifted to one side of the road.
Chicago Skyway (Interstate 90) — Major construction, to start in May, will
be going on between Marquette and Exchange avenues on the Skyway’s western end.
Two lanes, instead of the usual three, are to be open in each direction there.
Traffic also will be narrowed at the feeder ramp to the Dan Ryan.
South Shore at capacity
The South Shore Line, Northwest Indiana’s only rail link to Chicago, can’t
provide much relief for rush-hour drivers this year.
“We’re operating everything we have right now,” South Shore spokesman John
Parsons said. “Most of our rush-hour trains are at capacity.”
Only standing room is available when most rush-hour trains reach Chicago in
the morning.
Trains that run outside the rush hour typically aren’t as crowded. But last
year, those “off-peak” trains had the biggest percentage increase in riders.
“It’s going to be very crowded this spring and summer,” Parsons said.
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which runs the South
Shore, wants to buy 12 new train cars, but those won’t arrive before the Dan
Ryan work is done.
Bill Latoza, an architect for Bauer Latoza Studio, has several options for
going between his firm’s offices in Gary’s Miller area and Chicago.
First, he may do more work out of his Gary office and go to Chicago two or
three days a week instead of four.
Also, he noted, he can take some of his Chicago trips away from the rush
hour.
He might take the South Shore, which stops just a few blocks from his Miller
office.
And he may switch to two-wheeled transportation.
“I might ride my motorcycle, so I can get through traffic faster,” he said.
“It’s exhilarating.”
How about pooling?
Two other alternatives to single-occupancy driving are van pools and car
pools.
A van pool provides a van, ranging in size from four- to 13-passenger, for
riders going to the same location.
Pace, the suburban Chicago bus system, has about 600 van pools. Nearly 40
carry riders between Northwest Indiana and Chicago, Pace spokeswoman Judy Kulm
said.
A challenge for Sox fans
Baseball fans going to Chicago White Sox games also will confront Dan Ryan
construction.
Faithful fan Andrew Rodovich, a U.S. District Court judge magistrate at the
Hammond courthouse, is not worried about getting to the 20 to 25 White Sox games
he attends annually.
“I planned to listen to traffic reports and see what they say, and play it by
ear,” he said.
He has alternative routes in mind, along Stony Island and State Street, if
needed.
Most games he attends are night games, Rodovich added, and the Dan Ryan
usually hasn’t been a problem for those.
“God’s smiling on White Sox fans,” he added, “so I think he’ll take care of
us.”