According to a new report, Chicago drivers are experienced less traffic congestion last year.

INRIX, an international provider of traffic data, released its Traffic Scoreboard Annual Report on Wednesday, which shows congestion on the city’s many roadways has dropped by 23 percent in 2012.

According to the report, Chicago drivers spent 30 hours stuck in traffic last year, compared to 37 hours in 2011 — a seven hour difference.

This decline has dropped Chicago from its list of top “10 Worst Cities for Traffic in America.” The city was 8th in 2010, 10th in 2011 and now slides into to the 12th-worst traffic city.

Unfortunately, the reason for the improvement is not good news.

According to Jim Bak, INRIX’s Director of Community Relations, Chicago drivers can credit the city’s generally weak economy and high unemployment rate for the traffic improvement.

Read more at DNA Info Chicago.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Transit Authority announced plans to move forward with a bus rapid transit (BRT) project along 16 miles of Ashland Avenue.

The ultimate plan is to have BRT along Ashland Avenue from 95th Street to Irving Park Road with center-running bus lanes in either direction. This will require the elimination of one lane of motor vehicle traffic in both directions on one of the city’s most used north-south corridors. The city says it will also reduce street parking along Ashland by 10%.

“Bus Rapid Transit is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to expand and modernize our city’s transit network for the 21st century and is an important component of my plan to create a world-class transit system,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “We will work with our local communities to best determine how to maximize the positive impacts BRT would provide to riders, while boosting local economic development and improving quality of life for all city residents.”

The first phase of construction won’t begin until 2016 and will only involve a stretch of Ashland from 31st to Cortland (just south of Armitage Ave.).

The proposed design will have bus stops every half mile, with riders boarding from a center median. Buses will also be given traffic signal priority to further speed buses up and down Ashland.

Originally, the city’s year-long study of a BRT project looked at both Ashland and Western Avenue, but the CTA says the Ashland Ave bus route has the highest ridership citywide. The city has put the Western Avenue BRT plan on hold.

“Ashland Avenue has the highest CTA bus ridership with more than 30,000 riders per weekday,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool. “By introducing BRT, we will be providing one in ten Chicagoans with access to faster and more reliable transit, allowing a rail-like experience at a lower cost.”

While local public transit activists have been strongly supportive of BRT, local businesses along Ashland Avenue are wary, if not down right worried about the plan.

In a meeting back in January, business owners voiced their reservations about the plan with concerns about parking and how trucks and delivery vehicles would be able to reach businesses.

The current proposal will eliminate left hand turns at some intersections making it more difficult for trucks to their intended destinations along Ashland.

“Our goal is to balance the needs of riders, drivers, residents and businesses in this corridor,” said CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein. “This configuration will allow us to provide the fastest bus trips and minimize disruption to traffic flow while retaining landscaped medians, as well as almost all parking and loading zones.”

These closures will include the full closures of the express lanes between midnight and 5 a.m. inbound and midnight and 6 a.m. outbound between 43rd and 67th Streets.

Those same lane closures will take place again next week starting Monday night, April 1st for four nights until early Friday morning, April 5th.

Drivers will be restricted to using local lanes only during the closures.

Starting Wednesday, April 3, drivers will face reduced lane widths and lane shifts throughout the construction zone through mid summer according to IDOT.

Lane reductions will also be put in place on ramps to and from the Chicago Skyway (I-90). The outbound ramp from the Dan Ryan to the Skyway will be reduced from two lanes to just a single lane. Inbound, the ramp from the Skyway to the Dan Ryan express lanes will be closed with access only to the Ryan’s local lanes until mid summer 2013.

IDOT says to expect delays, watch for signs, obey the work zone speed limit and be slow down for construction workers.

The Reason Foundation, a think tank which promotes free market solutions to society’s problems, produced a video of a presentation on a study on how to solve Chicago’s traffic congestion issues.

The study, based on market-based solutions, actually came out last year, but Reason only posted the video in the last few months.

The study suggests a combination of user fees, electronic tolling and new financing methods to reduce congestion and the number of hours drivers spent stuck in traffic. The two researchers say congestion costs the local economy billions of dollars every year.

If you have a half hour to kill, it’s certainly an interesting and enlightening look at Chicago’s traffic situation.

Check out this very interesting video about the Illinois Department of Transportation’s “Minute Men.”

You know, those guys in the big, florescent yellow tow trucks who patrol the expressways around Chicago (and St. Louis) to make sure disabled vehicles or vehicles involved in a crash or accident are cleared from traffic ASAP.

IDOT says vehicles stranded on the roadway for any reason, but in particular accidents, not only slow down traffic but pose a risk of another crash in the traffic behind the initial incident. So it’s in the best interest of IDOT to resolve these issues and clear the scene as quickly as possible.

The aftermath and wreckage of the early morning crash on Lake Shore Drive. Photo courtesy and copyright Erica Demarest and DNA Info Chicago.

A wrong way driver caused a major crash killing two people and closing down the southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive early Friday morning.

According to DNA Info Chicago, around 4 AM, a possibly drunk driver entered the southbound lanes of LSD at La Salle Street and ended up striking two other vehicles between Belmont and Diversey around 4 AM Friday.

The southbound lanes were subsequently closed to investigate the crash. However, the closure causes major rush hour delays all over the city’s Northside.

With traffic unable to gain access to Lake Shore Drive, traffic backed up for blocks and in some cases miles along both major arteries and side streets.

Lake Shore Drive was re-opened around 9 AM.

The driver of the wrong way vehicle survived and was hospitalized.

Here’s DNA Info Chicago’s full story, “Wrong-Way Driver Caused Fatal Lake Shore Drive Crash, Cops Say.”

UPDATE: Saturday, an off duty police officer from suburban North Chicago was criminally charged in connection with this fatal car crash according to DNA Info Chicago.

The state agency plans to spend over $400 million to improve the traffic flow and decrease the congestion where the Dan Ryan (I-90), Kennedy ( I-94) and Eisenhower (I-290) slam into each at the foot of Congress Parkway.

But according to Streetsblog Chicago,  there are a handful of organizations and transportation planners are at best skeptical and at worst highly critical of all of IDOT’s proposed plans.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) believes there will essentially be virtually no improvement in commuter times, it will encourage less people to take public transit and there will be further environmental impacts.

While not surprisingly, the Active Transportation Alliance, which exists to support walking, biking and public transit, is fully against the project essentially saying the money would be better spent on promoting alternative transportation choices.

CMAP, which has to sign off on the IDOT plans before it can move forward, will hold a meeting in mid-March to discuss the project.

Read Steve Vance’s full story, “IDOT’s $400 Million Circle Interchange Expansion Won’t Fix Congestion.”

Critical Mass Chicago takes place tonight, the last Friday of the month.

The monthly parade of bikes steps off from Daley Center at 5:30 PM.

While normally hundreds if not a few thousand bikers participate in Critical Mass when the weather is kinder, gentler and warmer, one would expect this evening’s ride to be somewhat smaller.

A weeks worth of extra cold weather and a few inches of snow this morning will probably discourage only the most hardy and hardcore bike riders from participating.

The good news for drivers is the traffic impact from those crazy bikers will probably not be significant.

Drivers should keep an eye out for Critical Mass bikers all the same.

Happy Friday!

Traffic is expected to be up, law enforcement will be up and even gas prices are up.

And if motorists want to avoid spending the majority of their holiday stuck in traffic, two automobile related services are encouraging drivers to start their trips sooner than later.

Wednesday–The Great Escape

Not surprisingly, Wednesday is expected to be the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving holiday.

AAA say 45% of all travelers plan on leaving Wednesday, with 36% planning on returning Sunday.

“All day Wednesday will be ‘get-away’ day with Sunday typically the return day,” says Steven Haas, veteran traffic reporter for News Radio 780. “It will probably be worse on Wednesday, with folks returning gradually, over the weekend.”

INRIX Traffic, which provides traffic information data, recently ranked Chicago fourth in their report of the nation’s busiest holiday traffic hot spots. INRIX suggests holiday travelers should hit the road no later than 2 PM.

AAA concurs with the 2 PM rule for a smoother, faster road trip. They say if you leave after 2 PM your trip will take an average 26% more time than if you left before that time.

More Cars On The Road

According to AAA, more cars will be traveling this year than last.

AAA projects 2.08 million Illinois residents will be traveling in 2012, a mild 0.6% increase over last year. Nationally, this is the fourth consecutive year of increased Thanksgiving holiday travel after a steep 25% decrease in travel nationally in 2008 when the recession was at its height.

“Thanksgiving travel hit a decade low in 2008 when only 37.8 million Americans traveled,” said AAA Chicago Regional President Brad Roeber. “Since that year we have seen a steady increase in the number of travelers taking to the roads and skies for the holiday. ”

AAA attributes the less than 1% increase in automobile travelers for the holidays to gas prices finally coming back down to somewhat normal prices and the economy a bit stronger.

Increased Traffic Enforcement

At a Tuesday morning press conference at the State of Illinois Building, Lt. Paul Riggio promised drivers the Illinois State Police will be out patrolling all state roads during the holiday and will be looking for drunk drivers and enforcing seat belt laws.

“We want to insure everyone reaches their final destination,” said Riggio. “Even one fatality is one too many to the ISP.”

Last year Riggio says the ISP made 171 DUI arrests, issued tickets to 2800 speeders, 850 safety belt violations, 40 distracted drivers and 57 instances of carrying open alcohol.

Also at the press conference, Sgt. Scott Slavin, said the Chicago Police Department is planning heavy enforcement as well this holiday.

“We will be out in full force this weekend,” said Slavin. “If you are driving drunk you will be arrested. If you’re driving without a seatbelt you be stopped and cited.”

According to IDOT eight people died on Illinois roadways last Thanksgiving weekend with 50% of the fatal crashes involving alcohol.

Gas Prices Higher Than Last Year

While fuel prices have been declining rapidly from the unexpected high this past summer and early fall, gas prices are still a bit more expensive than for this time last year.

Both AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report and gas price tracking website ChicagoGasPrices.com says the average price for unleaded gasoline in the greater Chicagoland area is around nine cents higher than Thanksgiving 2011.

Coming off last month’s 15th anniversary bike ride, it is again the last Friday of this month and time again for Critical Mass Chicago.

With cooler, and perhaps wetter weather on Friday, turnout will most likely be depressed–a good thing for drivers who will routinely be delayed 10-20 minutes by the hundreds if not sometimes, thousands of riders who have been known to participate in this monthly display of bike power.

Critical Mass steps off from Daley Center Friday evening at 5:30 PM.

Happy Friday?