Milwaukee from Ashland to Paulina construction timeline

As I try to better understand construction timelines and processes in Chicago, I’m going to keep track of this project that annoyed people cycling for six months.

Project: Underground utility construction [not sure what kind]

Location: Milwaukee Avenue between Ashland and Paulina

Timeline

February 2011 – Construction project begins (I’m not certain it started in February, but I took my first photo of the project this month).

Sometime here the construction project ends and the surface is replaced with rough concrete. Two points to make here: The construction crew could have floated the concrete more to make it smoother; the concrete only needs a week to cure, and can then be removed and replaced with asphalt.

July 25, 2011 – Rough concrete is replaced with asphalt.

August 2011 – Center and parking lines are striped.

August 13, 2011 – Bicycle shared-lane markings still don’t exist.

September 21, 2011 – Bicycle shared-lane markings added, but incorrectly: they’re too close to the parking stripe.

[flickr]photo:5879600633[/flickr]

Someone riding a bike rolls in and out of construction zone barriers, presumably to avoid the car traffic and the little room between the cars and barriers. 

Unanswered questions

  • Who is responsible for this project?
  • What is the city’s policy on “floating” temporary construction concrete?
  • Do construction projects like this have deadlines?
  • Why aren’t people cycling accommodated better in road construction projects?

[flickr]photo:5975426531[/flickr]

A Chicagoan riding her bike in the construction zone waits for the light at Ashland Avenue to turn green.

What is floating concrete?

Draft: Floating concrete, or to float the concrete, means to drag flat objects over the concrete to push aggregate downwards and bring liquid upwards. The more times this is done, depending on the float tools, the concrete surface will become smoother. A concrete floor in a restaurant has been “finely floated” to create a smooth, shiny finish.

Sidewalks are floated more than road surfaces. After a sidewalk is floated, it is often brushed to create a texture.

[flickr]photo:4502935802[/flickr]

Using a brush to float concrete and add texture. 

[flickr]photo:4502935544[/flickr]

Hand floating the concrete. 

8 thoughts on “Milwaukee from Ashland to Paulina construction timeline”

  1. I’ve never heard it called “floating” concrete, always “finishing.” You noted that the concrete was replaced with asphalt. I’m guessing that the asphalt as overlaid on top of the concrete. In my opinion, since the portland cement concrete is not the final roadway surface, there’s not much sense in paying an expensive skilled laborer to finish it just so it can be used for a week. I believe a new project being intiated by CLOCC/CDOT will be recommending policies for maintenance of complete streets during construction though.

    1. The asphalt was laid on top of the concrete. I was reading the City’s pavement restoration regulations and concrete is required as a base.

      “…there’s not much sense in paying an expensive skilled laborer to finish it just so it can be used for a week.”

      The keyword here is “used for a week” – it’s clear in the case above that the rough concrete sat there for months, not a week.

    2. The asphalt was laid on top of the concrete. I was reading the City’s pavement restoration regulations and concrete is required as a base.

      “…there’s not much sense in paying an expensive skilled laborer to finish it just so it can be used for a week.”

      The keyword here is “used for a week” – it’s clear in the case above that the rough concrete sat there for months, not a week.

    1. A lot of people ask me about bike-ped collisions. For Chicago I have NO information on this. IDOT does not collect this data and I sent a FOIA request to the Chicago Police Department about obtaining bike v. bike collision information (um, now I can’t remember the outcome of that request).

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