One of the untold, or undertold, stories of Chicago’s construction boom of the last decade is the disruption, dislocation and sometimes disaster that results from massive condo buildings rising in settled neighborhoods. At YoChicago, our office sits next to a couple of major developments, and we’ve suffered the pounding of piledrivers, street closures, sidewalk closures, daily traffic blockages, a nextdoor fire and a blown-over construction fence that nearly crushed our bike.
The general contractors constructing these buildings seem to have the keys to the city, able to stop traffic at will, spout dust with impunity and generally disrupt neighborhood life with little regard for their temporary neighbors. A Yo reader who owns and lives in a three-flat across the alley from the ongoing Residences at the Vic, 3150 N Sheffield Ave, laments the fact that the alderman’s office gave less than six days’ notice that his alley would be closed for 10 days and gave no information about how trash collection and other services might be handled during that time.
He and his neighbors quickly organized and met with Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), who then said residents would have until Tuesday to decide whether they want a concrete alley, which requires a 10-day closure, or a paved alley, which would require a one- to two-day closure. The city permit for work on the alley does not authorize its closure, and the dates on the permit don’t match those published by Tunney’s office, which announced a work period that would last a week longer than that on the permit, according to our reader.
The Department of Transportation informed him that an alley closure is completely at the discretion of an alderman. Have a similar story? Click on “Comments” below to tell us your tales of construction woe.