Wood, I think, has the best traction under ice and snow without needing the structural support required for concrete.

Chicago Sucks!!! Here's an idea why don't they not ticket my car for being in one spot for more than 7 days. No, it's not abandoned I just went on vacation for 10 days and I don't have a garage to park it in. Then they give me tickets for it being more than 12 inches from the curb which it wasn't. It was right against the curb. Then they send me a letter in the mail saying that since I abandoned my car would I like to give them my title to it as well so they can junk it. How about not giving out harassing tickets to tax paying citizens of the city. I had current registration and city stickers and was parked in a legal spot.

This was the worst welcome home I can get. I am seriously thinking about moving to Florida now to get away from all this Chicago BS.

^ Are you sure that they don't require the curb to be clear a few hours per week for street cleaning?

I would definitely contest any tickets if you think their claims are false. Yeah, I can imagine why you'd be annoyed.

Keeping a car in a big city is a hassle. That's something one has to accept. If the inconveniences of car ownership are enough to make you move to Florida, then you really should consider leaving.

the reason i moved away from Boston was the time the price vehicle registration went up annually by $3.

^^^^ It's rough parking on the street, no denying it. I've payed my fair share of tickets, including two $50 tickets within 25 minutes of each other. I was parked when they were scheduled to do street cleaning. I was lucky I moved my car before they could tow it which would have happened with ticket # three. If I ever live within the city limits again, I'll either give up having a car or pay for a permanent spot. Definitely incentive to take public transit.

Hope you can fight some of those tickets.

^I just park in the garage....

It stinks, but if it makes you feel better, basically every big city has abandoned vehicle laws, some even stricter than Chicago's (like 2-3 days) --- the difference is lackluster enforcement, and Chicago's budget situation has provided incentive the past couple years to be incredibly stringent about any and all possible parking violations. A few years ago it generally wasn't an issue to leave a car for weeks at a time on the street, but the last year it's gotten much tougher, especially if you're in a high visibility area.

I'm definitely going to fight them. I knew about the law but last year I parked in the same spot for 10 days over Christmas time and they didn't bother it then. This time though it was covered in a mountain of snow so it was much more noticeable. The same cop wrote all the tickets I got. So, I'm sure he saw it there everyday.

I didn't know they were so strict with the abandoned vehicle law. I could see if it was there for a month, but 7 days isn't that long. Perhaps a warning after 7 days. Do you think I have a chance to contest it? I wasn't abandoning it. I was just gone on vacation for a few days. I don't have a garage. My landlord doesn't want people parking cars behind our building for some reason.

I went past the Oakton station site in Skokie today. No pictures, but there were several crews out doing utility relocation and so forth.

They're also pouring the curb bumpouts for the stationhouse and auxiliary entrance at Morgan.

Finally some news that the station construction is actually moving forward. I was looking on the CTA's website about a month or two ago in search of any updated information on the station, but I wasn't able to find anything new. Same for Village of Skokie's website. The Chinese can probably build 1000 km of high speed rail in less time than it's taken to get the Oakton station rebuilt.

^^ Having said that, I now was able to locate a PDF news release on Skokie's website dating from October 14th.

Two renderings of the station (PDF)

Speaking of station construction, anyone know anything about a Morgan St. station for the Greenline? Has anything started yet?

Can’t say I care much for the Oakton Station (though I do like the black-on-yellow signage)—I’d like something crisp and modern would work better at that site—I’m imagining something like the renovated Dan Ryan stations, but at grade level. The station also looks awfully big for something to only needs to berth two-car trains. Oh well, I can’t stand most Metra stations’ cutesy architecture either.

It’s good to hear they’re getting some work done—I would imagine utility relocation would be a big deal for any work on the Yellow Line. There’s often so much invisible work to be done in any major public work—our agencies really should do a better job of explaining to the public what’s going on and why, so the impression that nothing ever happens (which was my first reaction while passing Oakton a few months ago) can be avoided.

Yes. They have the street closed off and a rendering on Morgan.

Who else is excited about the bus only lanes through the loop? I think those are supposed to be started early this year. I know when I took the #56 out of the west loop from old job to Wicker Park it was a complete madhouse on Madison during rush hour. A dedicated bus lane should definitely help.

I've got no problem with the higher rates downtown...but this is nonsense

Man Gets Ticket While Paying $5 For One Hour Of Parking Downtown (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_804807.html

^ Ugh.... I'd be pissed if I was that guy

The design will be started early this year for the "Central Transitway" and the Jeffrey bus lanes. There's no word on when construction will start, though.

Train Tracker is live.

Red/Purple Modernization project has a website (and a logo). Scoping meetings to be held the last week of January in four North Lakefront locations.

Does anyone know if it is available for smartphones yet? I looked on the Droid market, but did not find.

I don't think there are any specific apps for the train tracker, but I suggest checking out the website CTA Tattler, which has a review of the tracker.
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/cta-...ta-review.html

Hope that's helpful.