Highway Construction Forcing Car-Loving Commuters To Trains

Despite their undying love of cars, Chicago commuters are grudgingly hopping on the train to avoid congestion from the "Dan Ryan Dig," a $600 million project to improve the "busiest road in Illinois."

1 minute read

April 22, 2006, 7:00 AM PDT

By Alex Pearlstein

In Chicago's version of Boston's infamous "Big Dig," the reconstruction of the Dan Ryan Expressway is predicted by experts to cause more traffic disruption than any highway project in history. Work on the "Dan Ryan Dig" began three weeks ago, and traffic on the already-busy road has at times slowed to a virtual standstill.

Many car commuters forced onto mass transit by the construction project are grousing about crowded trains, leaky station roofs, and train platforms exposed to Chicago's famously capricious weather. Worst of all, for one woman chosen to be her office's "birthday lady," responsible for bringing a cake to celebrate co-workers' birthdays, "By the time she reached her office, it was 'almost as horizontal as it was vertical.'"

Things aren't so rosy for die-hard transit riders, either. One transit veteran complained that, "'The new commuters seem glued to cellphones, yammering as loudly as they would in the privacy of their cars...You don't need to give your life story for everyone to hear.'"

[Editor's note: This article is available for free online for seven days after the publication date.]

FULL STORY: Strangers on the Train: Highway Work Forces Chicagoans Off Road

Friday, April 21, 2006 in The Wall Street Journal

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