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Alderman Hopkins Pushes Toward a Plan to Rebuild Lake Shore Drive

CHICAGO – Alderman Brian Hopkins (2nd) is currently pressuring the city to start massive movement on its long-awaited plan of adding new parkland off of Lake Shore Drive, as well as implementing a solution to an inefficient lakefront intersection at Chicago Avenue.

Hopkins is working toward a resolution that would completely rebuild–not just repave–The Drive and add 70 acres of parkland to its east.

It would also aim to expand Oak Street Beach.

Hopkins’ ward covers the stretch from the Downtown lakefront to Bucktown. Regarding his proposals, he has been requesting support from Governor J.B. Pritzker.

“The $45 billion capital bill is out there,” Hopkins explained. “And we don’t know what that’s going to be spent on. I’m pushing for this plan to finally come to fruition and get it off the drawing board.”

The alderman is also asking for a resolution to the inconvenient traffic backups caused at the Lake Shore Drive/Chicago Avenue intersection, where eastbound vehicles traveling from Streeterville make for an excessively long red light wait time in all four directions, while cars only get a few seconds to move once the light finally turns green.

“If you were a traffic engineer,” Hopkins said, “you would be fired for proposing this today. It’s just that bad.”

The resolution would also work to create a path allowing Chicago Avenue traffic to pass over Lake Shore Drive, along with with on-ramps and off-ramps to make for easier maneuvers on and off of The Drive–which would ideally no longer back up traffic.

“We really have no choice,” explained Hopkins. “We have to do something. Lake Shore Drive is crumbling. It needs to be replaced. The roadbed is beyond its useful service life. And as long as we’re rebuilding Lake Shore Drive, I think it would be a tragic waste of opportunity if we don’t also expand the parkland there.”

As of now, Lake Shore Drive has sparse greenery and boasts mostly concrete walkways and bike lanes on its sides. Hopkins’ plan would include new landfill to expand into the lake for additional parkland along the roadway.

The Drive is also under constant threat of flooding by Lake Michigan.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been working to add Jersey barriers to hold back rising water along the lake, but Hopkins believes this is impractical.

“It’s not going to work,” Hopkins told the City Club of Chicago late last month. “The types of erosion we’re seeing through climate change, fluctuating lake levels…we can’t get out of the way of this with Jersey walls. We have to rebuild Lake Shore Drive.”

Hopkins is waiting for much more momentum to come with the new administration in Springfield. 

His project would also put into place a long-running campaign to fix Lake Shore Drive’s S-shaped curve around Oak Street Beach. This development aligns with Meigs Field’s conversion to a Northerly Island nature preservation, as well as with Downtown’s Museum Campus completion that sits just off of The Drive.

Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, who helped to write the “Plan of Chicago” in 1909, deemed the city’s shoreline “forever open, clear and free,” which has been publicly mandated since 1836.

18 years ago, a group of cyclists established the Campaign for a Free and Clear Lakefront in honor of Burnham’s vision–they wanted the city to remove Lake Shore Drive entirely and return it to its origins as a grassy park space. In their eyes, such a large separation between Chicagoans and Lake Michigan was in direct violation of Burnham’s ideals.

It seems they weren’t far off base.

The ‘North Lake Shore Drive project,’ has been a collaboration between the Chicago and Illinois departments of transportation, the Chicago Park District, the Federal Highway Administration, and various neighborhood groups since 2013.

Safer and more efficient roadways, a renovated drive, and new parklands are possible, but these improvements will need backing, funding, and teamwork between government groups and Chicago locals.

Alderman Hopkins’ fight is a powerful reminder of the reimagining that is needed for Lake Shore Drive–better parks and more beach space are what will allow Chicago’s lakefront to remain a scenic legacy. It won’t be enough just to prevent it from falling apart.

ATRI List Ranks Biggest Trucking Concerns for 2019

A new list released by the American Transportation Research Institute–the trucking industry’s non-profit research institute–shows the biggest issues currently facing the trucking industry in North America.

The “Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry” list for 2019 has been compiled by the ATRI after analyzing over 2000 survey responses from motor carriers and commercial truck drivers. In its 15th year, the ATRI Top Industry Issues report also incorporates strategies that can address and potentially help to solve each issue.

In the list, driver pay and detention times at customer facilities made up 2 of the top 10 biggest concerns–for the first time ever.

However, Hours of Service has held the number two spot for two years in a row, and Driver Shortage concerns have stayed at the very top of the list for the last three years. 

“While 2018 was an incredible year for trucking, we’ve seen some challenges in 2019, and certainly finding and retaining qualified drivers remains at the top of the list for our industry,” said ATA chairman and president, Barry Pottle. “ATRI’s analysis reveals the interconnectedness of these top issues and provides a roadmap for how motor carriers and professional drivers believe we should move forward as an industry.”

Here are the 2019 rankings for the most critical worries in the North American trucking industry:

10. Economy — Many factors have truckers concerned lately about how the American economy is affecting trucking, including a trade war with China, drone strikes on Saudi Arabian oil companies, and a softer freight market.

9. Transportation Infrastructure/Congestion/Funding — “Poorly maintained roads and traffic congestion create wear and tear on vehicles, waste fuel and increase emissions, create additional stress for drivers, and negatively impact industry productivity,” the ATRI says.

8. Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) — Although still a major concern, CSA worries have fallen from the number 6 spot in 2018. This may be in part to the integration of new driver technology, such as collision mitigation, avoidance systems, and driver-facing cameras.

7. The Electronic Logging Device Mandate — December 16th is the deadline for fleets to transition from AOBRD devices to FMCSA-approved ELDs. The logging technology was the number one critical concern only three years ago, and has been steadily sliding down in the rankings.

6. Driver Retention — This problem has dropped from number three on last year’s list as a softer freight market in 2019 has lead to less truck driver turnover.

5. Truck Parking —  A long-term problem in the industry, this issue “creates a dangerous and costly dilemma for truck drivers who are often forced to drive beyond allowable Hours of Service rules or park in undesignated, and, in many cases, unsafe locations,” the ATRI says.

4. Detention/Delay at Customer Facilities — A brand-new addition to the ATRI’s top ten critical issues list, the ATRI references a study showing that driver detention of six or more hours has increased by over 27 percent between 2014 and 2018.

3. Driver Compensation — Another first-time-in-history addition, as driver pay has never been considered a top critical concern. This problem represents two sides to the complex issue–the carriers who must raise their driver pay, and drivers who are not satisfied with what they earn. Fleets have been increasing their drivers’ pay significantly, but many drivers still say their income is no longer keeping up with inflation, according to the ATRI. 

2. Hours of Service — HOS regulations have remained in the second spot of these rankings for the last two years. In 2019, the FMCSA has put into place an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which aims to provide greater flexibility in its rest break and split sleeper berth provision requirements. This regulation also extends duty time by two hours for drivers working in inclement weather, and lengthens the maximum on-duty driving period from 12 to 14 hours.

1. Driver Shortage — This issue has stayed at the top of ATRI’s rankings for three years in a row. Although many groups (like OOIDA) believe driver shortage is actually a driver retention and compensation issue, the ATRI explains that “despite a somewhat softer freight market in 2019 over 2018, demand for qualified drivers is still high and fleets are undertaking a number of approaches to mitigate the recruiting challenges.”

Chicago Uses Largest Number of Controversial Red-Light Cameras

CHICAGO – The city of Chicago is leading the game in generating revenue from red-light cameras. Currently, we have implemented more red-light cameras–and brought in more money from them–than any other major city in America.

No other urban area can even compare to Chicago’s 309 red-light cameras. When the traffic resource was at its peak, there were nearly 400.

Only four of the 10 biggest U.S. cities presently operate these cameras–New York City, Philadelphia and Phoenix are the others. However, they fall far behind the Second City. NYC has 164 of the traffic control devices; Philadelphia has 30, and Phoenix just 12.

For reference, the town of Gurnee, Illinois has 15.

Because Chicago is so camera-happy, the city’s revenue has increased exponentially, amassing $719.7 million since 2008 from red-light cameras alone–twice the revenue in half the time of New York’s $286.7 million since 1994.

While the cameras may be an enormous source of city funds, they are frustratingly costly for drivers, and have been proven to create opportunity for government corruption and distrust.

Multiple government groups across Illinois have been found to continue contracting with Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., the red-light camera manufacturer with a history of corruption and scandal.

The company had been fostering a long-term bribery scandal throughout Chicago, with allegations surfacing back in 2012. The city cut off its Redflex connections; however, between 2015 and 2016, both the company and the city were given prison sentences in one of the most prominent bribery schemes in the history of Chicago.

John Bills, who used to work for the city’s department of transportation, received 20 counts of felony in the scheme for having acquired hundreds of thousands of dollars from Redflex in order to keep the company’s devices installed throughout the city–leading to its current leading position in red-light camera usage.

A Redflex official also alleged that the company offered bribes to “dozens of municipalities” across 13 other states. The CEO of Redflex was sentenced to 20 months in prison. 

Regardless, the suburban Illinois areas of Gurnee, Carol Stream, Olympia Fields, North Chicago and Bellwood continued their contracts with Redflex. Gurnee extended its agreement in 2012, and again in 2015.

Now, it appears history repeats itself. State Senator Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) recently became subject to an office raid during the hunt for information regarding his agreement with SafeSpeed LLC, another red-light camera vendor. 

A 2018 Case Western Reserve University study found that red-light cameras have no apparent safety benefit. Researchers in the study analyzed traffic accident data from Houston–which utilized these cameras between 2006 and 2010–and discovered that rear-end crashes actually increased. Although T-bone collisions did decrease during that time, they found that the cameras most likely increased the number of overall accidents.

The Chicago Tribune also found in 2014 that rear-end collisions increased by 22 percent in Houston during that time, and that the number of crashes at a red-light camera intersection did indeed go up once the camera was put in place.

Many of the cameras installed in Chicago are located in intersections which already had a low number of accidents.

Although Chicago (and the rest of Illinois) has appeared to maintain a mind of its own in regards to red-light camera use, bipartisan support in the Statehouse is pushing for an overall ban. State Representatives David McSween (R-Barrington Hills) and Jonathan Carroll (D-Buffalo Grove) introduced a bill in January aiming to ban red-light cameras across the entire state. In early October, Rita Mayfield (D-Waukegan) and Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) signed onto House Bill 323 as co-sponsors. A second bill to ban these cameras was also introduced just three days later.

In addition, the Tribune has reported that in analysis of over 4 million tickets issued between 2007 and 2014, many individual cases showed evidence of deviations in Chicago’s cameras caused by “faulty equipment, human tinkering or both.”

This clear misuse of traffic control equipment has given Chicago locals a strong reason to lose faith in their local government and to suspect corruption.

If these cameras are proven to bring more accidents to previously-low-risk intersections and place unnecessary financial burden on drivers–and they do–it is sensible for these bills to be passed easily and quickly.

New Federal Rules Will Help Trucking Companies Hire Safe Drivers

The Federal government has adopted new policies aimed at taking unqualified truck drivers off the road. Registration is now open for the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, a new substance abuse screening system for truckers that is scheduled to be operational early in 2020 . The Clearinghouse is a database that will keep track of drivers who have violated drug and alcohol policies in order to stop them from operating commercial vehicles. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration anticipates that the implementation of this database will substantially reduce motor vehicle crashes involving heavy trucks. 

The federal rules regarding professional truck drivers already prohibit drivers from getting behind the wheel when they test positive for illegal drugs. Of course, everyone knows that drunk driving is illegal. The Clearinghouse database will allow trucking companies to screen drivers applying for jobs to see if they have previously tested positive for drugs and are looking to get hired at a new place. Drivers can also lookup their own information once they have registered with the Clearinghouse themselves. Once registered, drivers can search for their own information for free. The database will include information about whether a professional driver has any drug or alcohol program violations and, if applicable, the status of their petitions to return to duty. 

The new system is meant to act as a check on drivers who violate substance abuse rules follow the proper protocol to get back in to good standing, if possible, before they are allowed to keep driving. Drivers with commercial driver’s licenses, employers, law enforcement, medical review officers, and substance abuse processionals will be among the groups who will be authorized to access the Clearinghouse. 

As for what should be reported to the database – Federal Statutes cover that: 

Employers will report a driver’s drug and alcohol program violations. Medical review officers will do this as well. A driver does not need to register him or herself into the system for a medical review officer to enter a violation in the system. In fact, it is not mandatory for a driver to register. But, if an employer needs to conduct a full check on a driver, that driver will have to register. This means, drivers who don’t want to take part may not be able to get hired for certain jobs because perspective or current employers will not be able to conduct a full search on the database for their information. After January 6, 2019 a driver will have to be registered with the Clearinghouse in order for an employer to be able to conduct a full search on their record for new hires. Drivers who are registered will be able to give their consent to release drug and alcohol program information to employers. Also, when new information is added to their profile, drivers will receive notifications from the Clearinghouse in the mail or electronically. 

Drug abuse is a problem that needs to be addressed with treatment and counseling. Allowing drivers to keep working when they have a substance abuse problem by slipping through bureaucratic cracks doesn’t help drivers who may need help to get sober. It obviously makes roads less safe. 

In the computer age with so much information going digital, this just makes sense. Professional truck drivers have a difficult job. They have to work long hours, often by themselves, away from their families. They have to keep alert on the road and get enough rest to do so. Drug use is a problem that poses a great risk to the health and safety of, not only professional drivers, but also everyone else who shares the road with them. Safety is on the roads is imperative. This database is likely the least intrusive way to keep records of drug and alcohol program violations so that employers know if they are sending a driver out on the road with the proper credentials. 

Fall Brings Different Challenges to Illinois Drivers

Fall in Chicagoland is an exciting time. The leaves begin to change, football seems to be on almost every day of the week, and it presents that brief period in the Midwest where its not too humid and there’s no sign of a snowstorm approaching. With that being said, there are some downsides that pose serious risks to drivers on the road. Not only does it get much darker outside, but potholes appear out of nowhere, and the roads are often slick. But one factor in particular may be overlooked for Cook County residents. As CBS 2 Chicago recently reported, Cook County experienced the most crashes involving deer in the entire state. Now, for many in the city this data may seem irrelevant as those residing in Chicago may not be commuting to surrounding suburbs. However, the reality is that Chicago has an incredibly diverse population and many large corporations that are headquartered in suburbs surrounding the city. And while some may believe that public transportation is the most common method of transportation for commuters, according to Money Crashers, it turns out that 77.6% of Chicago commuters drive cars, making them all the more likely to come across deer on the road.

In its report, CBS 2 stated that in 2018, “more than 40% of crashes involving deer occurred in October, November and December.” The obvious reason for these crash statistics is that deer mating season takes place during these months, making those dark, narrow roads in the suburbs all the more dangerous. On the other hand, it also comes down to a lack of awareness and knowledge of the dangers that driving at night and in certain parts of Cook County pose. 15,636 auto crashes took place in the state of Illinois in 2018, and eight of those were fatal. To place those numbers in comparison with other states, it’s important to note that Illinois does not even place in the top 10 for states where you are most likely to hit a deer on the road. For example, West Virginia, which has regularly taken the top spot for the state where drivers are most likely to be involved in a deer collision, had 25,176 collisions from June 2017 to July 2018. So why the sudden uptick in collisions for Illinois drivers? According to the Chicago Tribune, while rural areas in Illinois remain predominantly where the biggest risk of hitting these animals are, “deer are also seen in urban areas along highways . . . where deer have adapted to city and suburban environments.” This would certainly explain why Cook County ranks so high when it comes to collisions.

“Don’t Veer for Deer”

If worrying about colliding with deer on your morning and evening commutes isn’t enough to keep you motivated to stay alert of all the warning signs, keeping other drivers safe should. Although a deer may come out of nowhere and surprise you while driving, drivers have a responsibility to take reasonable precautions when driving where hazards like this are present. On top of the other dangers that Fall poses, the threat of deer in rural, and now urban areas, should force us to all be extra careful. As a way to prevent further injuries from occurring in a potential collision, CBS 2 was able to speak with Acting Illinois Transportation Secretary, Omer Osman. In discussing this issue Osman stated, “don’t veer for deer. While your first instinct when facing a deer in the headlights may be to swerve, doing so could cause you to lose control of the vehicle and increase the severity of a crash.” To further support these safety tips, the Illinois State Police has provided several tips for drivers in hopes of avoiding collisions:

  • Be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to deer crossing signs.
  • Scan the sides of the road for eye shine – the reflection of headlights in the eyes.
  • Slow down if you see deer. They travel in groups, so more are likely nearby.
  • Prepare for the unexpected. Deer can stop in the middle of the road or double back.
  • If a collision is inevitable, try to glance the vehicle off the deer and avoid swerving into the opposite lanes of traffic.

It goes without saying that as it gets darker outside, drivers need to take the necessary precautions to ensure their safety. In doing so, we all work to make the roads much safer.  

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