BY PHIL ROCKROHR, Times of Northwest Indiana Correspondent
Thanks to public transportation, city and pro baseball officials say construction on the Dan Ryan Expressway will not dramatically affect tourism in Chicago.
However, the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau plans to offset a slight drop in visitors from Chicago to the region by attracting more people from other parts of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
"Given all of the traffic management strategies we have in place, we don't believe (the Ryan) will significantly impact anyone's ability to get to and from downtown Chicago -- visitors and residents alike," said Brian Steele, spokesman for Chicago Department of Transportation.
"That is not to say there will not be traffic impact, because there certainly will be. However, we think we have some strong and proven strategies in place to minimize the inconvenience as much as possible."
Dorothy Coyle, director of the Chicago Office of Tourism, said it's too early to tell the exact effect the Friday night closure of the Ryan express lanes will have, but visitors have many options besides driving.
"People expect some amount of road construction every year during the warm weather months," Coyle said. "We would encourage visitors to consider alternative transportation when making their travel plans."
Among the alternatives are air travel, Megabus inter-city travel, Amtrak, Metra commuter trains, and Chicago Transit Authority trains and buses, she said.
Steele said visitors also should take advantage of the city's free trolley, which shuttles among many common tourist destinations, including Navy Pier, the Field Museum campus, State Street and Magnificent Mile. In its sixth year, the trolley has transported more than 2 million passengers a year, he said.
Chicago White Sox officials could not be reached for comment, but the Pace suburban bus system plans to provide a new express bus service from Bolingbrook and Burr Ridge to U.S. Cellular Field for most Sox games.
Pace offers a similar service to Chicago Cubs games.
"The biggest thing is we encourage our fans to take public transportation," said Paul Rathje, director of stadium operations at Wrigley Field.
Rathje said he also advises fans to examine alternate routes suggested by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
IDOT has designated several arterial Chicago streets as alternate routes, including Stony Island Avenue, Lake Shore Drive and Ashland Avenue.
The Chicago Department of Transportation also recommends Cottage Grove Avenue, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Western Avenue, Steele said.
Because those streets will see additional traffic, CDOT will put rush-hour parking restrictions in place, synchronize traffic signals, extend green lights and carefully review permits for road construction to prevent additional delays.
"Anyone thinking of visiting downtown Chicago should not be worried about the impact of traffic," Steele said. "There are plenty of ways to get to sites in Chicago.
"Public transportation is the best option. Even if you drive, there might be added travel time, but your destination will be well worth any inconvenience you might experience."
Speros Batistatos, president and chief executive officer of the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau, predicted a dip of 1 percent to 2 percent in occupancy rates of Lake County hotels because of the Ryan project.
In response, the bureau plans to refocus its marketing from Chicago and its northerly suburbs to the south, southwest and west suburbs, so visitors can use Interstate 294 to avoid the Ryan, Batistatos said.
"People may go west or north to Wisconsin," he said. "I think it's incumbent upon us to change our marketing approach as well."
The bureau is also considering appealing to Detroit and Indianapolis residents over the next couple of years, Batistatos said.
"We're going to have to spend more money to communicate our message to those markets, because we have spent so much of our effort in the past on Chicago," he said.