Navy Pier Flyover for Bikers, Joggers Delayed (Again)

Those hoping to use the new flyover path near Navy Pier will now have to wait even longer than expected, and taxpayers could be on the hook for millions more on the perennially delayed project. On Monday, a spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation said the flyover is currently slated to open in 2020. After this report was published on Tuesday, CDOT spokesman Mike Claffey called and said city officials are aiming to complete the pathway by the end of 2019.

It was originally slated to open in spring 2018.

For the full article go here: https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/navy-pier-flyover-for-biker...

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Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 1, 2018 at 8:17am

#&^%@!

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on May 1, 2018 at 7:44pm

This project was a boondoggle from its inception.  I'd love it if somebody did an analysis of where the money has gone.  I'm sure it all went to the same handful of crony-companies who collect all the other projects.  It's really sad to think of the many worthy transportation goals the $80 million to be spent on this monstrosity could have been used to achieve.

Permalink Reply by Mike Muczynaki on May 3, 2018 at 8:53am
On the plus side, it sounds like we'll be in the running for being named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World

"Last fall... critics complained the project was taking longer than the Golden Gate Bridge, which took just over four years to build. With this new delay, it will take the city as much time to build the flyover as it took to construct the Channel Tunnel, or the “Chunnel,” which is the underwater passageway connecting England and France. That project was hailed as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World" by the American Society of Civil Engineers. "
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 4, 2018 at 3:49am

Another dubious title.  *sigh*

Permalink Reply by John Wayman on May 4, 2018 at 4:03am

CLuster Fuck!! Ill be dead by the time this is finished. If we were China this would have been completed in 2 weeks!!

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 4, 2018 at 4:16am

Possibly. But if so there would be few if any environmental controls or fair labor practices.

Permalink Reply by Mark Dawson on May 25, 2018 at 6:25am

At least we finally were told something. I have been biking past this erstwhile construction site regularly for several months, and wondering where the construction went. And for months in 2016 and 2017 I tried to find out what happened to the project before John Greenfield's excellent article appeared in the Reader a year ago:

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/navy-pier-flyover-constructio...

This seems to be a charming feature of the current administration.  It feels like an ordeal to get answers to the most basic questions about projects like the Flyover. Witness the construction at Oak Street Beach right now. Why can't they provide us with a sign telling us what's going on? But I could provide other examples.

Permalink Reply by Mark Dawson on May 25, 2018 at 6:26am

So, thank you for the information.

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on May 26, 2018 at 4:05am

This problem would have been solved, finished, built, and complete for far less cost by a proposal from Steve Vance many years ago:


http://gridchicago.com/2012/navy-pier-flyover-is-it-worth-45-millio...

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 29, 2018 at 7:23am
What Jorge said. While it is certainly a downer this project's time frame has doubled, it's still a real fix, as opposed to a band-aid.

Additional value for the Flyover will also become more apparent as the newly disinfected Chicago River attracts more recreational users and foot traffic to the area in general.

Nobody is going to look back at this in 10 years and go "what a ripoff, we'd be better off without it," any more than they do now with Millennium Park, which was also delayed and went greatly over budget.
Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on May 31, 2018 at 4:02am

I'm not even sure it's a real fix or will solve any problems.  Time will tell.  What I am sure of is that it will end up costing $75 million and that that money would have been much better spent elsewhere, regardless of its source.  

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 31, 2018 at 4:35am

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. Mine is that those of us who rely on this stretch have long understood that removing cyclists and pedestrians from the lower LSD intersections at Grand and Illinois is a big, big deal. Navy Pier and the Lakefront just gets busier every year, this allows that to continue without compromising safety and a healthy way of getting around.

The delay and cost overrun are irritating, no doubt. But funding sources matter. I'd rather see the Feds funding a project like this than much of the waste our half a trillion dollar a year + Pentagon budget is used for. Air and Water shows, funding the NFL's National Anthem, aircraft carrier protection for oil being shipped from the Middle East, etc. On the state level, this is a better investment than say, the Illiana fiasco. Or the boondoggle known as the Hillside Strangler "fix". This is literally peanuts, and may finally put the theory of induced demand to work for cyclists.

http://www.navypierflyover.com/faq/

What is the project’s construction budget and how is it funded?
The Navy Pier Flyover is primarily funded by the US. Department of Transportation using Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ), with additional funding from the State of Illinois. The first phase of construction is budgeted at $22.5 million. The next two phases of construction will be funded by the same sources in their respective construction years.

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