Sonic opens in Alsip
A new Sonic Drive-In opened last week in Alsip.
The drive-in, which offers no dine-in service but does provide a few picnic tables and parking places for customers, opened Friday at 11915 S. Pulaski Road in a former Checkers hamburger stand.
Owner Faiza Reza made the switch from Checkers to Sonic. She also owns a Sonic in Romeoville.
Founded in 1953, Sonic is based in Oklahoma City. It is part of the Inspire Brands family of restaurants, which includes Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s Sandwiches and Rusty Taco.
Sonic is open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Other nearby Sonic locations are Calumet City, Country Club Hills, Lockport and Cicero.
Harlem Avenue road projects set
Motorists in the southwest suburbs are about to feel the pain that comes with the start of construction season.
A big project will be the resurfacing of six miles of Harlem Avenue from 62nd Street to 111th Street.
The $5 million project was scheduled to start this week and run through early October.
The work will run from Summit and Chicago’s Clearing neighborhood south to Worth and affect motorists who use Harlem in Bedford Park, Bridgeview, Burbank, Chicago Ridge and Palos Hills.
The project consists of constructing new ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps and replacing deteriorated curbs.
To complete the work daytime and occasional overnight lane closures will take place. Access to residences and businesses within the work zone will be maintained throughout construction.
Last year, IDOT did the same kind of Harlem resurfacing project from 159th Street in Orland Park to 111th Street in Worth and it created traffic jams off-and-on for most of the summer.
That’s not it, however, for Harlem Avenue.
IDOT also announced that a project to replace the bridge carrying northbound Harlem over the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District railroad tracks in Lyons and Forest View would begin this week, weather permitting.
To accommodate the work, traffic will be reduced from two lanes to one over the bridge.
The $5.3 million project, which consists of replacing the existing northbound bridge with a new structure, installing new lighting and resurfacing, is anticipated to be completed in early November.
IDOT wasn’t finished. The agency also announced that replacement of the bridge decks and other improvements to the bridges carrying LaGrange Road over Santa Fe Drive, Canadian National Railroad, I&M Canal and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, in Justice, Hodgkins, Countryside and Willow Springs was to begin this week, weather permitting.
To establish the work zone, LaGrange Road will initially be reduced from three lanes to two in each direction, from just north of Interstate 294 (Tri-State Tollway) to just south of Interstate 55. The closures are necessary to make temporary pavement repairs so southbound LaGrange Road can accommodate both directions of traffic when work begins later this month on replacing the northbound LaGrange Road bridge decks.
The $21.4 million project, which involves replacing the existing bridge decks and installing new lighting along with pier and abutment repairs, is anticipated to be completed in fall 2023.
Not to be outdone, the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways is adding to the mess for anyone trying to go north and south.
The county has announced work on three north-south bridges will also begin, weather permitting, this week.
The Ridgeland Avenue bridge, the 104th Avenue bridge and the Crawford Avenue bridge, all over the Ca-Sag Channel, are going to be under construction for probably all summer and maybe into the fall.
The bridge steel strengthening projects along Ridgeland Avenue and Crawford Avenue include steel truss member repairs, deck slab repairs, and cleaning and painting of existing structural steel.
Those bridges will remain open but will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
The bridge steel strengthening project for 104th Avenue includes steel truss member repairs, deck slab repairs, and cleaning and painting of existing structural steel.
During construction, 104th Avenue will be closed for all traffic from Cal Sag Road to 107th Street and detoured via Cal Sag Road, 96th Avenue and 107th Street.
Bob Bong is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at bobbong@hotmail.com.
