Aug 20, 2008 11:28 am US/Central
Lake Shore Drive Repairs Begin Today
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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The stretch of Lake Shore Drive between Irving Park Road and Foster Avenue will be resurfaced due to extensive pothole damage after a long, hard winter.
CBS
Get ready for some traffic headaches on Lake Shore Drive in the short term, but after that it'll be smooth sailing.
CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports that construction work on the southbound Drive is going on right now. It began today at 10 a.m. after the morning rush hour. The crews put barrels in the lanes from Foster Ave. down to Irving Park road. There will be traffic tie-ups, but motorists say that there cars will benefit in the end.
"I hit many potholes, but I lost three tires because of it," said motorist Jenny Pearson.
"All the bumping and it hits your shocks and everything like that, so it's just not fun," said motorist Jennifer Wood.
Construction delays aren't fun either. Expect them from 10 a.m. until 6 a.m. the following day on the southbound side of Lake Shore Drive. Crews began blocking off lanes this morning.
"But now they're gonna have traffic, construction - that's gonna be kind of hard for me," said motorist Galen McGee. "I'll find a different way to get to work."
North Siders have been complaining about the rough ride down Lake Shore Drive. The mile-and-a-half Foster to Irving Park stretch of the Drive supports 100,000 cars a day, and has been repaired more than 200 times this past winter. That was all pothole work. Now they are going to do some real repairs beginning today.
Anyone who drives the city's most scenic road knows it has been one of the bumpiest. The work will begin on the southbound side and shut down two of the four lanes, but all lanes will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. to accommodate the morning rush hour traffic.
Motorists say their cars have been suffering for a long time.
"Well, you know, I come across a lot of potholes," said motorist Crosetti Dameron. "I had to have a front end put on my car. So it's rough."
"I've had, with my car, I've had some wheels that were bent and damaged," said motorist Daria Smenos. "I think it's a great idea. It will make things a lot smoother."
The Chicago Department of Transportation says workers will repair pavement joints, replace deteriorated pavement and cover it with a new layer of asphalt. The project costs $6 million.
"The resurfacing work that we're doing starting today, we anticipate is going to provide several years of smooth, even driving surface," said CDOT spokeman Brian Steele.
The work will last through November, and then they will start work on the northbound side next spring. That work will continue through next July.
During the Cubs season, the work will be suspended around game time. There's no word on whether that schedule will be affected if there's a lot of post-season Cubs play.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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