Bright ideas, profound observations and major moans from riders of buses, trains, cars and other wheeled vehicles:
From A.A.M., Skokie
Come south on the Tri-State Tollway from Wisconsin into Lake County and you`ll see highway signage that borders on fraudulent.
You see ”Chicago-Tri-State Tollway” along with ”Highway 41, Waukegan, left 1 1/4 miles.” What you`re not told is that Route 41 leads into the Edens Expressway and actually offers a shorter, more direct route to Chicago-and for FREE.
It is quite obvious that the signs are worded the way they are to produce maximum toll revenues. The exit sign to 41 also should say ”Chicago.” At least give motorists the option!
From A.E.E., Chicago
As a senior citizen who has used the CTA for years I can truthfully say that this last year or so has been very, very aggravating. If I could afford a car, I`d buy one.
It really annoys me to go to the Berwyn ”L” stop to catch a No. 146 bus to the Loop and find two or three buses sitting there, the drivers in the nearby restaurant drinking coffee and joking around. I wait for 10 minutes and one of the drivers tells me that the bus I want hasn`t arrived yet.
And, sure enough, when the next bus pulls in, it goes out first.
It`s time for the CTA to wake up. By offering less exasperating service, it might get more riders and more money without increasing fares that already are twice as high as they should be.
From B.V.H., Palos Heights
There are 30 cars waiting at a stoplight wanting to go straight and two waiting to make a left turn. Who goes first? The left turners. It doesn`t make sense.
Left turns should be made during a green light at the option of the driver and for a short time after, with an arrow, when the green changes for the straight-ahead traffic.
In most cities, signals are set to optimize traffic flows. In the Chicago area, it seems as if they`re used to impede the most motorists possible.
From W.G., River Forest
The workers on the CTA`s Lake Street line can`t seem to keep up with the accumulation of trash. I got on a car at 8:20 one morning and it was incredibly strewn with garbage for that hour.
On the other hand, the CTA is not entirely to blame. I got on a train one night recently and there, under a seat, was a dirty diaper.
People who discard diapers on CTA trains should be deported to New York.
From K.A.C., Chicago
I read about that fellow who`s so upset about signs on I-90/94 that say
”west” when he`s going north to his vacation home in Wisconsin. Well, if he wins his campaign, and the estimated $250,000 cost of changing the signs is correct, I wonder who`s going to pay the bill.
If it`s the taxpayers, I say there are thousands of more important things that need attention.
If it will save us a quarter million dollars, I`d be happy to send this fellow a little sticker to place on his dashboard that reads: ”West equals north, east equals south.”
From G.P., Northfield
I went through an emission testing unit in Lincolnshire a while back, and I noticed a beater in the next line with one headlight held in place with wires.
I grew up in Evanston in the `30s, and to get your vehicle sticker you had to go through a safety check where an attendant tested your windshield wipers, horn, brakes and so forth.
My point here is that the guy in the junker next to me may have passed the emission test, but his car shouldn`t have been on the road.
Am I just old-fashioned? I don`t think so.
From M.D., Downers Grove
Drivers with telephones stuck to their ears, speeding 65 m.p.h. in the fast lane, are a danger. Car phones leave the rest of us at the mercy of one- armed drivers who are negotiating big business deals. Their attention is diverted from the most important thing they should be doing.
I feel threatened by these speeding ”phone booths,” and am asking that someone out there do something about it NOW.
From J.K., Wilmette
I just read about the possibility of the CTA renaming its various lines for colors-the Red Line, Green Line, etc. I hope you will convey to the officials in charge that the proposed scheme is going to confuse the approximately 15 percent of the male population that is color blind.
The simplest solution is to assign numbers to the transit lines, not colors.
From J.D., Oak Park
Granted, we have to do something about that polluting, inefficient dinosaur, the automobile. But the RTA`s idea of a ”personal rapid transit”
(PRT) system with individual vehicles traveling on an elevated guideway isn`t the answer. You need something that is reliable, quiet, clean, economical to operate and safe to get people from Metra and CTA stations to their final destinations.
How about golf carts? They could be checked out by commuters using a coded credit-like card. A central computer would log the user`s
identification, time and electrical charge, permitting issuance of monthly bills.
Just imagine what things would be like. Streets would be filled with small carts that make no noise, don`t pollute, fit in small spaces, go everywhere, don`t speed and are safe from muggers.
Getting Around Du Page
The nation`s economy may have been nicked by the short-lived rail strike a few weeks ago, but motorists traveling Eola Road in west Du Page County didn`t mind the absence of freight trains one little bit.
Frequent and long delays are the norm during morning and afternoon rush hours where Eola Road crosses the Burlington Northern line just east of the company`s freight rail yard in Aurora.
”These last few days have been just wonderful,” postmaster Rita Scanio noted from her vantage point at the Eola Post Office just north of the crossing.
With the absence of freight trains, traffic backups were minimal, and that meant much happier post office clientele, Scanio said.
Speaking of railroad crossings, the long-awaited Kress Road overpass on the Chicago & North Western line now is open, and Du Page County
transportation officials are pointing to the bridge as an example of how different government agencies can work together in harmony.
In addition to the county`s highway division, the Illinois Departments of Transportation and Aviation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Du Page Airport Authority, the Illinois Commerce Commission and the City of West Chicago all had a hand in funding, planning or administering the project.
The two north lanes of Aurora Avenue in Naperville have reopened to traffic as the reconstruction project on the thoroughfare shifts to the southern two lanes. One lane of traffic in each direction is traveling on the newly finished lanes.
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Got a commuting question? See a problem on the area`s roads, trains or buses? Getting around will address topics of general interest. Write to Getting around, c/o Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
