Milwaukee, WI
Quarry Workers Strike Stalls Milwaukee Avenue Resurfacing Work — And Other Street, Sidewalk Plans Across The City
WICKER PARK — A road resurfacing challenge officers hope to finish in Wicker Park this summer season has been delayed due to a quarry employees strike — a job motion that’s impacting tasks across the metropolis.
The Chicago Division of Transportation deliberate to start repaving Milwaukee Avenue from Chicago to Damen avenues final week as a part of the town’s Arterial Road Resurfacing Challenge, based on Romil Patel, the engineer and guide overseeing the challenge.
The challenge is a component of a bigger collection of road upgrades to that stretch of Milwaukee, together with including ADA ramps at crosswalks, upgrading gutters, and sidewalk enhancements, which have already been accomplished.
For the challenge’s remaining leg, officers hoped to start milling and repaving the stretch from Chicago to Ashland Avenue final week, after which full the remaining part to Damen after the Wicker Park Fest road pageant later this month.
However attributable to an ongoing quarry employees strike that’s restricted the availability of asphalt, concrete and different constructing supplies, officers aren’t positive when the resurfacing might start. Round 300 members of Worldwide Union of Working Engineers Native 150 walked off the job June 7, alleging unfair labor practices towards Lehigh Hanson, Vulcan Supplies and Lafarge Holcim.
The three corporations function greater than 30 quarries in northern Illinois.
“It was on schedule, but it surely has gotten delayed because the Native 150 strike,” Patel stated. “The rule is, we can’t preserve the road milled for a very long time, greater than every week. If we mill, they should put the primary layer of asphalt and the fabric will not be obtainable. So all the things is on maintain till the strike is over.”
The strike is threatening not simply the Milwaukee Avenue repaving however resurfacing tasks throughout Chicago, native officers stated. In a letter dated July 1 to the supervisor of Vulcan Supplies, transportation commissioner Gia Biagi warned the strike might have lasting repercussions to infrastructure tasks in Chicago.
“We’ve been in shut communication with our contractors to maintain tasks shifting, however on daily basis the strike continues is extra detrimental to Chicago’s infrastructure wants and the Metropolis’s wellbeing,” Biagi’s letter reads. “A chronic work stoppage signifies that many transportation tasks throughout Chicago — similar to our road resurfacing work, Inexperienced Alleys program, and ADA accessible ramp work — have slowed.”
Illinois Division of Transportation spokesperson Maria Castenada stated the strike has additionally slowed down tasks exterior Chicago.
Contract negotiations are ongoing and anticipated to proceed Monday, based on union’s web site.
As soon as the strike ends, contractors might start repaving Milwaukee nearly instantly, Patel stated. The complete resurfacing will then take about two months to finish, relying on climate.
“What we’ve left is, we’ve to mill the road, we’ve to place down the primary layer of asphalt after which we’ve to regulate all these manholes to the grade, after which put the ultimate floor and put down the striping. Milwaukee is like one-and-a-half mile lengthy, and there’s a motorbike route, as nicely. In order that creates just a little extra problem for us to handle all the things,” he stated.
Even when development does start quickly, contractors will wait to finish the northern part of the challenge till after Wicker Park Fest ends. The annual road pageant runs July 22-24 this yr on Milwaukee from Paulina Road to Damen Avenue.
“With Wicker Park Fest, we determined that we’re going break up the challenge into two halves. The thought was to begin milling from Chicago Avenue to Division Road and pave the primary layer of asphalt on that hall … after which as soon as the Wicker Park Fest is finished, then we’re going to return mill and pave from Division going north all the best way to Damen Avenue,” Patel stated.
Patel stated officers are discussing creating a short lived bike lane detour that will keep away from the development, however that the plan has not but been finalized.
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