Road Week Ahead: April 21 – April 25

Here’s what’s on tap for Lake County commuters this week: Warm weather, a vigorous return to roadwork, and a handful of commute-challenging lane closures on the Tri-State.

Filed under: Congestion Relief, Deerfield Road, Everett Road, lake forest, Lincolnshire, Mettawa, Wilmot Road

Driving through the clouds

Just when I proclaimed Monday and Tuesday to be “Metra weather” days best suited for mass transit, what did I do? I drove to work. Well, now.

Driving tonight was like tunneling through cotton balls and cobwebs: fuzzy and often disorienting. There were “can’t see your hand in front of ya” moments, “can’t see that cyclist pedaling down the middle of the road” moments, and “wait is that a giant pothole YIKES yes it was” moments. I hear there’s a newfangled invention called “foglamps”, but as my car is not equipped with these lamps I resorted to a workaround: high beams, wide eyes and a death grip on the steering wheel.

The fog was a reminder that it’s really not supposed to be 40 degrees outside this time of year, especially the day after a 4-inch snowfall. Sump pumps struggle to keep up with demand. There is flooding in the streets. The Metra viaduct across Deerfield Road was flooded. On the other hand, last week’s snowstorm residue is vanishing from my neighborhood streets. That’s the bright side.

Filed under: Road Conditions, Deerfield Road, fog