LFT construction updates???

So...is there a reliable source for the latest updates on construction on the Lakefront Trail?? I couldn't find anything on the Chicago Park District web site. There was a mention on their Facebook page a few weeks ago that there would be construction, but that's about it.

Googling didn't help.

I thought for sure there would be something here, but I wasn't able to find anything...

I knew about the construction happening between Foster and Argyle -- until I found out the hard way this morning that it was done and moved, so I managed to take partly an alternate path and partly just the grass adjacent to the construction fencing (I hate doing that) around the closure between Lawrence and Montrose.

I had heard on the news that construction would start on the north end and work its way south...what I never heard was that concurrently there'd be construction between Diversey and Fullerton...ughhh....found that out the hard way this morning, too...I think I had to deal with an additional 30 minutes on my commute to work...

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Permalink Reply by John Durham on July 14, 2016 at 10:26am

I commute from Ardmore to the Loop, exiting sometimes at Oak and sometimes at Monroe. How those two detours added 30 minutes to your commute boggles the imagination. Those two (minor) detours added perhaps 2 minutes overall. 

How in the world did you manage to wrangle 30 minutes out of the minor inconvenience of the trail work being done?

Permalink Reply by BikeScnhook on July 14, 2016 at 10:41am

Trying to FIND the detours. They're not marked in any way. I take the exact same trail every time I use it, so I don't know where the separate branches are and where they go, nor do I know how long the blockage is, so it involves trial and error for me.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on July 14, 2016 at 3:11pm

They seem to be working their way methodically south.  They've done a good job protecting the work with the fences and the surface seems quite nice.  You should be able to commute around it without long delays. I'm just glad they are giving it attention.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 15, 2016 at 7:27am

There is the Navy Pier Flyoverwebsite.

Permalink Reply by JeffB on July 18, 2016 at 5:42am

The trail was closed at Wilson and at the Diversey bridge this morning. It looks like the fences being set up at Wilson would go all the way to Montrose. At the bridge, you have to carry your bike outside the fence due to obstructions.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 18, 2016 at 5:54am

I came through early, around 5:30 and the chainlink fence was up but open at both ends. It wasn't at all clear how they expected traffic to route around that when the closed the ends. I think they might have expected you to do this:

but that would be both non-obvious and fairly dangerous. (Note how narrow the sidewalk is over Diversey harbor on the west side of LSD. The two paths underneath LSD are similarly narrow.)

Permalink Reply by JeffB on July 19, 2016 at 7:27am

Its not quite as easy as pictured north of the channel since they put the fence up north of the ramp to the sidewalk; you have to ride over grass to get to it.

A better detour is to exit at the Barry tunnel and take the gravel path to Fullerton:

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on July 18, 2016 at 6:40am

They do seem to do what they are doing pretty quickly, but it will likely be closed this afternoon. A better route than the sidewalks under the bridge is to go west at Fullerton to one of the paths that goes north and get back to the LFT at the underpass just south of Belmont.  I don't know how to do the embedded map thing, so maybe one of you who is not technologically challenged could do it.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 18, 2016 at 6:46am

> ... west at Fullerton ...

Sure, but as dauber wrote: "... with no warning sooner than about two feet before the construction." If they had a sign at Fullerton on LFT which directed people west, it would probably work a bit better.

I do realize they seem to be moving quickly, but my guess is it's going to be a mess this afternoon (as the paint will probably still be drying). Hopefully I'll remember to take your route. :-)

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 19, 2016 at 6:33am

> Hopefully I'll remember to take your route.

But of course I sort of didn't. I meant to just ride up Wells yesterday, forgot, then remembered the closure while I was on LFT just south of Fullerton. Not a big deal.

Forgot this morning as well, though they had a sign a bit north of the bridge, so I went over to the water, zig-zagged down the wheelchair ramp to the apron, and rode under the bridge, then past the north side of the harbor.

Variety is the spice of life...

Permalink Reply by BikeScnhook on July 18, 2016 at 5:46am

So again the construction is moved, with no warning sooner than about two feet before the construction. So like everyone else I veer off the path where I *think* it's a smooth transition to the grass...except the grass was camouflaging about a six-inch drop. Bike goes *WHAM!* onto the ground. Seat post collapses, and the saddle rips so now it's at a permanent upward angle.

Thanks, park district; my wife doesn't get another paycheck for two more months. I was really hoping to need to have my bike fixed because I don't like money.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on July 19, 2016 at 5:39am

Since the bridge itself didn't have an asphalt spray yesterday afternoon there was a little gap at each end so you could ride through the grass to the abutment, cross the bridge and then go back on to the grass. Someone on the work crew must have figured out what a bad idea closing the bridge entirely was, especially since it wasn't being sprayed.

I like the new surface and hope it holds up this winter, but I don't know how well the project was communicated to the public. At the rate they're going it won't take too long to finish, though.

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