Tag Archives: Kennedy Expressway

35 vehicles involved in chain-reaction Kennedy crashes; 7 injured

Mar 14, 2017 | WLSAM Staff
Emergency crews respond to a massive pileup on the Kennedy Expressway late Monday near Division. | Network Video Productions

(CHICAGO) Seven people were taken to the hospital late Monday after 35 vehicles were involved in two separate chain-reaction crashes less than a mile apart on the Kennedy Expressway.

Both crashes, involving a total of 35 vehicles, happened about 10:30 p.m. in the inbound express lanes of Interstate 90/94 between North Avenue and Division Street, according to Illinois State Police.

Seven people were taken to the hospital, while 23 people refused medical attention, said Fire Media Affairs Chief Juan Hernandez. A 39-year-old man was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital; a 28-year-old woman, 40-year-old man, 52-year-old man, and 62-year-old man were all taken in fair-to-serious condition to Rush University Medical Center; and two men, ages 26 and 27, were both taken in fair-to-serious condition to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center.

Police said none of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening.

Slick road conditions were thought to be the culprit of the pileups, which happened as a lake-effect snow system began pummeling the city. Up to 10 inches of snow could fall in parts of the Chicago area by midday Tuesday.

The express lanes were blocked as a result of the crash, but everything was reopened to traffic shortly after 2 a.m., police said. It was not immediately known whether any citations or charges were filed.

Emergency crews respond to a massive pileup on the Kennedy Expressway late Monday near Division. | Network Video Productions
Emergency crews respond to a massive pileup on the Kennedy Expressway late Monday near Division. | Network Video Productions

© Copyright 2017 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Graffiti from Kennedy Expy sign removed in quickest way possible, IDOT says

Dec 5, 2014 |

(Chicago)  Graffiti on a key inbound Kennedy Expressway sign was addressed in the quickest way possible by removing it during the morning rush hour about two hours after being notified of its existence, state transportation officials said Friday amid a flurry of complaints from commuters.

The closure of two lanes — and briefly three lanes — of traffic to remove the graffiti between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Friday caused a traffic nightmare on the Kennedy, the Sun-Times is reporting.

The morning rush on one of Chicago’s busiest expressways was reduced to a crawl, with WBBM-Radio at one point reporting a nearly two-hour trip from O’Hare to downtown. Illinois Department of Transportation officials gave a time of 138 minutes for the trip, instead of the normal 60 minutes.

IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said the graffiti that stretched over three lanes of traffic was reported to IDOT at 4 a.m. Friday.

Afterwards, Tridgell said, “We assessed the situation and had a crew responding to remove [it] at about 6 a.m.”

IDOT’s district operations and maintenance staff decided to remove the graffiti immediately, given that it was “obscuring an important sign in an area that people rely on as they are approaching downtown,” Tridgell said.

He did not immediately know of IDOT Director Erica Borggen signed off on the idea.

However, Tridgell said, the graffiti was in a critical spot at the Odgen Avenue overpass where traffic begins to “split in many directions.”

Asked why a temporary sign could not have been used until the morning rush ended, Tridgell said: “We took the quickest course of action, which was to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible. It was obscuring an important sign on the interstate system that people rely on.”

“We do understand this caused an inconvenience and apologize for that. This was a situation we did not create but for safety reasons, we had to address it as quickly as possible.”

–Sun-Times

© Copyright 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC

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