The target date for completion of the resurfacing is October 31st (Halloween, ironically).

The Congress Bridge project has a much longer timeline - it won't be done until this time next year.

Eisenhower resurfacing is pretty much done, I think. The bridge reconstruction was always a two-year project, but I expected that the south span would be further along by this point in the year than it appears to be. As of this morning, the bridge still has no stringers and the old paint on the trusses hasn't been touched. Maybe they're waiting for the end of the navigation season and will do a big weeklong frenzy with the bridge closed.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2aj6yqw.jpg

CTA to buy 2 all-electric buses
October 28, 2010 3:25 PM | No Comments

The Chicago Transit Authority received a $2.2 million federal grant on Thursday to buy two all-electric buses.

The battery-powered buses -- the first buses with an all-electric propulsion system in the CTA fleet -- will be tested to see how well they perform in regular service, officials said.

Hmmm.

http://www.thethirdcity.org/blog/wp-...y-bus-1949.jpg
link

I've been seeing alot of SUV police cars around my area lately. In fact i don't remember seeing any sedan type cars in a while. Did the police buy alot of new SUV's lately? Why would they buy SUV instead of sedans? It doesn't seem like a very green or fuel efficient thing to do.

... as though CPD doesn't have anything else to worry about with their vehicle purchases, like durability, longetivity, security, maintenance costs, road performance...

Better clearance when driving on the sidewalk. . .

. . .

I'm just wondering why they bought SUVs? I've never seen that before. As far as performance, sedans are better because they have better acceleration, cornering, and are less likely to flip over at high speeds going around corners. In Florida where I used to live, alot of our police force used to drive high performance Cameros because of their high acceleration, suspension, cornering, and speed.

High speed chases aren't very common in Chicago, for whatever reason, so acceleration and cornering are probably low on CPD's priority list.

It's probably a mixture of factors, from auto manufacturers pushing SUVs for police fleets to police leadership seeking to project an image of power.

Actually, what sedans are currently being offered for police fleets besides the Charger?

After 2 decades, Ford is terminating its Crown Victoria (and Mercury Marquis and Lincoln Town Car) line next year. Police departments like rear wheel drive, body-on-frame (easier to repair), V8-class vehicles, but now there are very few sedans that fit this profile. So it probably came down to a Ford SUV or a GM SUV. Ford's next generation Explorer has switched to a unibody frame, but the Chevy Tahoe already had a special police version. Plus, maybe GM was more desperate to get sales and the police dept got a better deal from them.

The really interesting question for the average (non-scofflaw) citizen is what taxi fleets are going to start driving by 2013 or so. Since they have the same above preferences for vehicles, they may well follow CPD's lead and continue taking 3-year-old hand-me-down police vehicles, so the implication is that we theoretically could start seeing a lot of Chevy Tahoe taxis (pro: legroom; con: fuel cost) by mid-decade.

Of course the more desirable outcome would be a hybrid or electric vehicle that is cheap to maintain, and that can be produced in an extra-legroom version (like the Crown Victoria was for Chicago taxis), by that time. Oil prices could be a big driver (no pun intended) of the direction this takes.

Ford is offering two new police vehicles. The sedan is based on the new sixth-generation Taurus (replacing the Crown Vic). The SUV is based on the new Explorer. See here: Ford Police Interceptor

Cheverolet is offering a new Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle.

^ Those ford pictures are all taken in Portland, OR

I don't think the City would allow the majority of taxis to become SUVs, since don't approved models have to pass some sort of accessibility standard?

I would hope we'd start seeing a lot more Priuses or something along those lines. I actually like riding in the Priuses, although I think my favorite taxies in the current fleet are those boxy Scion xB models.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...efinitely.html


http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/_pigs612.jpg

Pig-truck crash closes Indiana Toll ramp indefinitely

November 2, 2010 6:49 AM |

The crashed semi truck and some of its surviving cargo on the Indiana Toll Road on Monday. (Indiana State Police)

The crash of a pig-hauling truck Monday on the Indiana Toll Road caused structural damage that has forced the indefinite closure of the ramp from westbound I-90 to I-80/94, Indiana State Police said this morning.

Motorists normally using that exit at the 20.7 mile marker now will have to exit at the westbound Portage or I-65 exits, police said.

At about 11:42 a.m. Monday, a semi tractor-trailer rolled over after taking the westbound Toll Road ramp too fast and fell about 25 feet to the I-94 to I-90 westbound ramp. A number of the 79 pigs being taken to a farm in Michigan escaped and wandered onto the ramp and the grassy area separating the ramp from I-90 westbound traffic. A total of 23 pigs died.

Animal hauler trailers were brought in to take away the surviving pigs.

As far as those CPD SUV's... are they flex fuel an/ or E-85 SUV's? This could have been a factor in the Cornbelt Midwest and Midwest Mnf.....

Man those are some huge pigs. Was the driver ok?

^I think some of it is that Weis wants CPD to feel like they're real front-liners in the War on Terror,® not just guys who ride around looking for taggers and busting hookers. So they get assault weapons and intimidating SUVs like the FBI and Jack Bauer have. After all, any suburban department—hell, even McCook—could have those wimpy sedans.

That's the Lake Station interchange, right?

That was a very antiquated 1950's era design with tight turns that needs replacing anyway. Unfortunately, it took a severe crash to make that happen.

I thought the same thing about those pigs. They look well over market wt of 220lbs. These were from canada heading into Michigan to a Bob Evans sausage making place.

Some of these hogs from other pics that I saw of the incident looked over 300 lbs. It seems some sausage makers seem to put that extra lard into the product or sell it locally or more likely abroad if Mexico would not take it. But trust me everything from but squeel is used on these hogs and nothing will go to waste. Trust me on this one.

BTW the driver lived and was treated and released at a local hospital.

^Oh you don't have to tell me that, I have a cousin that used to work at a pork processing plant downstate, so I've heard allllll about it ;)