Monthly Archives: June 2011
Friday Night Traffic Headache: Critical Mass Tonight
Critical Mass ride from 2009
Motorists…idle your engines!
The once a month parade of self-propelled, two-wheeled vehicles that calls itself Critical Mass happens tonight.
The mob of traffic chaos causing thousands, will pedal, smile and wave their way across 10-15 miles of Chicago streets starting from Daley Center at 5:30 PM.
Critical Mass routes are unknown until just before the 5:30 start time. So we can’t even warn gentle drivers what streets to avoid to keep from being stuck at an intersection like a railroad crossing for 10-20 minutes, while what seems like a million bike riders drive by stopped traffic.
Clerk’s Office Says Still Time To Buy City Stickers
Lines for city stickers run out the door at 2550 W. Addison last Friday
With last year’s Chicago city sticker set to expire in just a week on June 30th, lines at City Hall and other city sales locations are slowly starting to lengthen.
And while the last day in June is the official deadline, the true deadline for you to purchase and affix your 2011-2012 city sticker on your vehicle is actually July 15th.
“Lines are starting to build,” says City Clerk spokesperson Kristine Williams. “A lot of people are forgetting about the grace period.”
Crosswalk Enforcement Sting Set For Downtown Wednesday Night
Chicago Police and the Chicago Department of Transportation bring their crosswalk enforcement initiative to the Gold Coast Wednesday night.
The intersection of LaSalle and Chestnut Streets will be ground zero tonight from 8 PM until 10 PM for crosswalk enforcement. This program undercover cops posing as pedestrians who step off the curb into a crosswalk to attempt crossing the street in front of an oncoming vehicle.
If the driver doesn’t come to a complete stop and allow the “pedestrian” to cross the street completely, the motorist can be ticketed and potentially fined $50 to $500.
Chicago Cracks Down On Bicycle Riders?
CPD, CDOT Conduct Bicycle Rider Enforcement Effort
It’s about time.
As many drivers and pedestrians know, many bike riders do not follow the rules of the road, often running red lights, riding on sidewalks and weaving in and out of traffic.
But after years of complaints, a rising number of commuters who bike to work or just to get around town and increases in bike related accidents, it seems the City of Chicago may be finally starting to crack down on scofflaw bike riders.
Gov. Quinn Pledges Inquiry Into Allegations Of Racial Profiling By Illinois State Police
Just a few days after the ACLU of Illinois alleged the Illinois State Police engage in racial profiling while making traffic stops, Governor Quinn has launched an inquiry according to the Huffington Post Chicago.
The online newspaper first reported on the ACLU’s claims that a disproportionate number of “consent searches” are performed on motorists of color in traffic stops by state troopers. The organization even went on to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation of the ISP.
A spokesperson for the Illinois State Police denied the allegations claiming state troopers request consent for search from just 2 out of every 1000 stopped drivers–less than 1%.
Gee, Thanks Mr. Vice President!
If you’re wondering why your commute home was more hellacious than normal, you can blame Vice President Joe Biden.
The Vice President had flown into town to attend a fundraiser at Navy Pier which was organized by David Axlerod, a senior advisor to the Obama Administration.
Although Biden was expected mid-afternoon, for whatever reasons his plane did not arrive at O’Hare until close to 5 PM.
With entrance ramps along the eastbound Kennedy from the the airport blocked by Chicago Police squad cars, all that rush hour traffic got pushed off the expressway and onto side street. This made a normally difficult rush hour painfully for slow for Chicago drivers mainly north of downtown.
Red Light Camera Violations Down In Naperville?
Red light camera violations in Naperville are falling according to the Daily Herald newspaper.
According to a report generated by the west suburban town, RLC violations have fallen significantly at three intersections.
At one intersection, Route 59 and North Aurora Road, red light tickets reportedly have dropped 65%. While Route 59 and Diehl Road has fallen by 42%, and the intersection of Ogden Avenue and Aurora Avenue are down 58%.
Interesting enough, Naperville claims crashes are down at some RLC intersections as well.
While Naperville seems to be proud of the reduction in red light camera violations, part of the decrease in violations could be linked to the city eliminating enforcement of all right turn on red violations at RLC intersections but one back in July 2010.
Cubs Night Game Sunday
Monday, the Cubs and White Sox start their annual rivalry on the South Side.
But Sunday, the Cubs play another American League team, the hated New York Yankees in another night game starting at 7:05 PM.
Remember, this means Wrigley Field night game parking restrictions go into effect starting at 5:00 PM.
Don’t even think of parking on a side street in the LV-2 or 383 RPP zones without a properly zoned RPP sticker or RPP guest pass.
Otherwise, an expensive ticket and a tow is in your future.
City Clerk, City Computer Servers Down
UPDATE: As of Friday at 10:45 PM, service has been restored to the Chicago City Clerk’s online sales page for city sticker sales
ORIGINAL POST
If you’re trying to buy your city sticker online at the City Clerk’s website and can’t get access–there’s a reason–all city computer servers are down.
At approximately 4:05 PM Friday a power surge took down all the city’s secure computer servers that handle transactions or host city databases.
Ouch! That’s Going To Leave A Mark
Someone is having a really bad day.
I guess that’s what auto insurance is for.
Captured on Damen Ave. between Montrose and Irving Park in the North Center neighborhood.
