CDOT Takes Another Crack at Upper Randolph

The Chicago Department of Transportation is going to once again try to straighten out the traffic mess that is East Upper Randolph Street.  The street, which climbs between Millennium Park and the Aon Center/Blue Cross/ Prudential Plaza streetwall is a nightmare for tourists and locals alike.

That's because whether looking at a map or just navigating on instinct, it makes perfect sense that Randolph would continue the city's street grid eastward from Michigan Avenue and connect with Lake Shore Drive.

Of course, it doesn't.

What it does do is make a blind 90-degree turn and come to a dead end in the heart of the New Eastside.

How confusing is this?  Well, on a warm summer afternoon there can be such a flood of confused suburban daytrippers that they actually cause their own traffic jam getting into, turning around, and getting back out of the dead end.

But you don't have to be an Okie from Muskogee to have trouble here.  I have a photo somewhere of an articulated CTA bus that got caught in this vehicular trap, and had to be yanked out with a tow truck.

To make things worse, this is no longer an industrial neighborhood.  There are several thousand people living there, and crossing the streets in their own backyard is becoming increasingly dangerous as more and more drivers unfamiliar with the neighborhood blow through the asymmetrical stop signs.

I used to live in the middle of this mess, and had a front-row view of it from my bedroom window.  Some days it was fascinating.  Others, not so much.

So, it was with some interest that I received an e-mail from Alderman Reilly's office recently detailing CDOT's plans for the area.  I'm going to paste Reilly's note, and the CDOT diagrams below.

Will the plan work?  Well, trying something is better than trying nothing.  But the problem is that this is a dead end.  There are only two ways to actually fix it:

1. Actually complete the long-studied, but very expensive, project to connect North Harbor Drive with East Upper Wacker Drive.  This has been promised by politicians for decades, but nothing has ever come of it.  
2. Put up some very large "Dead End" signs.  And by that I mean signs that actually read "DEAD END."  Not No Outlet, or Cul-de-Sac, or No Thru Traffic, or whatever the current politically correct version of "Dead End" is.  Hardly anyone knows what those mean, and no one takes them seriously.  "DEAD END" is universally understood and feared.  It's the one thing that will keep people out who don't want to go in there in the first place.

Here is Alderman Reilly's e-mail:

The upcoming improvements under this neighborhood initiative include:

New Bike Lanes on Upper Randolph between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive:

At the Alderman's direction and expense through additional Menu funds, CDOT's bicycle program engineered a number of pavement marking improvements for Upper Randolph Street between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive. These improvements include the extension of the eastbound bike lanes on the north side of Upper Randolph Street from Columbus Drive to just west of Stetson Avenue. Shared lanes were recently installed from the end of the old bike lanes down to Michigan Avenue.

On the south side of Upper Randolph Street, between Stetson Avenue and Columbus Drive, the existing eastbound bike lane has been relocated 8 feet off the curb line to keep school or charter buses servicing Millennium Park from parking in the bike lane. The warning signs have been installed in conjunction with the pavement marking recommendations.

Improvement to Intersection of Upper Randolph and Field Blvd:

The Alderman's office fields numerous reports of vehicles failing to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk in the east leg of the intersection at Upper Randolph and Field Boulevard.

This dangerous intersection will be "tightened-up" by shifting the crosswalk and stop line on the west approach approximately 35 feet to the east. This will improve driver compliance with the posted stop signs and encourage drivers to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

The City will also be installing new accessible pedestrian ramps, crosswalks and intersection pavement markings at this relocated crosswalk.

Improvement to Intersection of Upper Randolph and Harbor Drive:

Alderman Reilly also receives chronic complaints of vehicles that fail to yield to pedestrians at the intersection of Upper Randolph and Harbor Drive. This intersection will be reconfigured to include a painted median on the curve to provide a buffer between opposing travel lanes. The painted median will also provide an area for pedestrians to stand while waiting for a gap in oncoming traffic - and will encourage slower travel speeds through the narrowing of the adjacent travel lanes.

The City will also be installing additional warning signs to alert drivers to the approaching curve in the road and the presence of pedestrians crossing at the upcoming intersection.

Finally, CDOT recommends the removal of the stop sign and stop line for southbound traffic on Harbor Drive, because the intersection does not meet the necessary stop sign warrants and is inconsistent with the eastbound approach of Upper Randolph that has no stop sign.

There is a stop sign for southbound traffic on Harbor Drive - but eastbound traffic on Randolph is not required to stop at this corner. As a result, pedestrians gain a false sense of security that vehicles will stop at the crosswalk. The Alderman has introduced an ordinance to repeal this stop sign to improve pedestrian safety at the intersection of Randolph and Harbor Drive.

These improvements are scheduled to begin on October 18th and the project is expected to last for 8 weeks. Alderman Reilly is very pleased to announce this exciting project, which will finally address the many complaints we receive regarding traffic and pedestrian safety in the New Eastside community.

Here are the CDOT schematics and plans.  As always, click the pics for larger versions:

Renovating an Old Landmark

One of my favorite old Chicago buildings is going to be renovated.

I've long admired the Old Republic Building (307 North Michigan Avenue).  Maybe because of its anonymity -- it's not as flashy as the Carbide and Carbon Building (230 North Michigan Avenue) across the street.  Maybe because it suits its corner so well.  Maybe because I've spent any number of hours standing in its shadow waiting for a 151 bus.

Regardless of the reason, I'm happy to note that the City of Chicago has decided to also recognize this venerable piece of architecture.

In the latest newsletter from Alderman Reilly notes that the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has approved a tax incentive to help with the rehabilitation of the Old Republic Building.

"Class L" is a property tax incentive encouraging the preservation and rehabilitation of landmark commercial, industrial, and income-producing non-for-profit buildings. Owners can have their property tax assessment levels reduced for a 12-year period provided they invest at least half of the value of the landmark building in an approved rehabilitation project. While the Class L incentive is a Cook County incentive program, the City of Chicago and the local ward alderman must support granting the incentive.

The Old Republic Building went up in 1925 and was the first high rise in the area now dominated by the Illinois Center.

The Chicago Architecture Info Forum Launches

A couple of months ago, some people approached me about starting an online forum for people to talk about Chicago.  They told me they were frustrated by the quality of other internet fora, some of which are so large that it's like being lost in a crowd at Wrigley, and others that are so full of anger and hostility that people are afraid to express their opinions.  Some have elements of both.

I sat on the idea for a little while, and then two weeks ago asked the people in our Facebook and Twitter groups what they thought of the idea.  The response was overwhelmingly positive.  So the result is:

The Chicago Architecture Info Form

(CAIF for short)

To quote from the welcome message I just posted:

This forum was created to give people a place to talk about the city of Chicago. Its main focus is on the city's architecture, development, real estate, construction, and urban life; but discussions of any Chicago-related subject are welcome.

If you just want to read what other people write, that's fine. If you want to post messages, sign up for a free account. Don't be afraid to ask questions, or even just start your own thread to talk about your neighborhood. You can upload pictures to your own photo gallery, chat with other people, even start your own blog right here. And don't forget to check out the calendar of events. I'll keep that updated with community events that are of interest to like-minded people.

I know that several thousand people read this blog, and I encourage all of you to at least visit the new forum.  The primary truism of internet fora is that most people just read messages, a few reply to messages, and very few will start a new thread.

But I do encourage you to start your own messages.  Ask questions.  Seek opinions.  Share your thoughts.  Tell the rest of us what's happening where you live.

The forum also comes with a number of extra features for you to use.  You can start your own blog there, create photo galleries you can share with friends, even yak it up in an online chat room.

I think this will also be good for this blog.  The comment feature for articles here is a little limited.  I'm going to try to integrate it with the forum so that people can have a truly interactive experience when they want to post about things written here.

The address to click is http://form.chicagoarchitecture.info

Wooden Architecture Contest Winners

A while back we told you about the Wood Design Awards, a competition for architects and engineers who use wood in their buildings, but not in homes.

Two of the winners in the Midwest region are from Chicagoland, and one of them is local rising star Studio Gang, so here's the press release and I'll paste in pictures of the various projects so you can see what was done:

A Plea For Chicago's Theater Scene

There's an interesting plea in the Tribune today.  Essentially, the author is asking the still-to-be-chosen mayor of Chicago not to screw up the theater scene that the outgoing mayor worked so hard to create.

I'm not a theater person.  I can't stand musicals.  But I lived in the Loop during Wicked, and I think most people have no idea the kind of economic impact that one play had, and continues to have, on the city.  The neighborhood was flooded with out-of-state tourists and tour buses five days a week just because of that show.

But part of the Trib article I don't get is the notion that neighborhood theater should be preserved.  This is counterintuitive to me.  If anything, the city's theaters should be encouraged to move into the theater district.  It's not like there isn't a ton of empty space in the northwest corner of the Loop.  Moreover, you end up creating a critical mass that spurs creativity and creates a more vibrant, closer knit cultural community.

There's a reason all of the Broadway theaters in New York are along, or just off Broadway.  There's a reason so many dot-com companies are in a particular neighborhood of San Francisco.  There's a reason that during the age of the automobile, all the world's great car companies were in Detroit.

Chicago has already proven it has the potential to be a world class theater city.  But what it lacks is the scale of a Broadway or London's West End.  It needs all those minor theaters in the 'hoods to come downtown.  That then gives the crappy tiny theaters a chance to thrive, grow, and flourish until they're ready to move downtown, and so on.

So, I encourage the new mayor to continue cultivating the arts in Chicago.  But do it with a plan for the future, now that Mayor Daley's plan for right now has been realized.