Just in Time for Christmas: Wacky Christians
This story from Dallas is just too strange:

Campaign linking Bible, I-35 takes on sin with prayer marathon

From Duluth, Minn., to Laredo, Texas, houses of prayer are opening their doors around the clock to welcome those who have taken up the call to Light the Highway, a movement started by international ministry leader Cindy Jacobs. The idea for the Light the Highway movement began two years ago with Mrs. Jacobs – a self-proclaimed charismatic prophet and founder of the evangelical ministry General International, based in Red Oak. Mrs. Jacobs believes there's a correlation between Interstate 35 and the Bible verse Isaiah 35:8 (New International Version):

"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it."

As a result, there's a 35-day prayer marathon going on now that is intended to shine light on vice and sin – such as pornography, abortion, drug abuse, government corruption and workplace injustices – that participants believe are corrupting today's society, said Ryan Hennesy, the project's coordinator.

Actually, this story is a few weeks old; the marathon ended December 1. A few thoughts:

• If their goal is to get "wicked fools" off the highway, I guess I can support that. Can they pray over the Kennedy Expressway here in Chicago next?
• It's a good thing we have these people "to shine light on vice and sin." Otherwise, we'd never be able to find it when we need it.
• Notice that Mrs. Jacobs is a "self-proclaimed charismatic prophet." Heck, if that's all it takes, then I declare myself a prophet, too!
• Could Mrs. Jacobs have chosen a less descriptive name for her ministry than General International? It sounds like something out of a comic book, a company whose secret, sinister plan is to take over the world... Oh, now I get it.
• I wonder if Mrs. Jacobs ever considered that there could be a correlation between Isaiah 35:8 and Interstate 8 instead of Interstate 35. Repent, San Diego!

Many Protestants criticize the Roman Catholic Church for insisting on certain interpretations of Bible scripture. I think Mrs. Jacobs is a good example of why the Vatican believes such guidance is necessary.

UPDATE 12/23/2007 - Here is another story from the northern end of the "Holy Highway":

Many believers are convinced that the collapse of the bridge on Interstate 35W was a sign from God that more prayer is needed across the nation.

Of course, the bridge collapse was a sign from above. It was God's way of telling us the bridge was structurally deficient! I love the way people turn any old event into "prophesy" and use it to further their objectives. This article reminded me of something I read in The Onion's year-end issue last week: "Nation's Crumbling Infrastructure Probably Some Sort Of Metaphor."

Roadgeek trivia: What makes I-35 different from any other interstate? Answer posted in first comment.

Labels: highways, religion, Texas, weird news

- posted by David Johnsen @ 4:51 PM 1 comments

 
Role Model
Today's Tribune article about the opening of the I-355 extension says:

Officials predict it will attract retail malls that could transform New Lenox into "the Schaumburg" of the southwest suburbs.

Is that supposed to be a good thing? Schaumburg has only one redeeming quality, and even that is rather dubious.

Labels: highways, suburbs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 3:14 PM 5 comments

 
News Items

• The Edens Expressway will be the next big IDOT project. This isn't really new news, but construction is starting later this month. In a prime example of how "interactive" Web sites just show us how stupid people are, the Tribune's forum page for this story has people complaining about Edens construction coinciding with Dan Ryan construction. The two expressways go in opposite directions, so neither is an "alternate route" of the other. And since the Dan Ryan is under construction, through traffic is already avoiding I-94, so this is actually the best time for Edens construction.
• Hey, look who's running for president -- our favorite senatorial loser, Alan Keyes! Call him the "bad penny candidate." Too bad the chances of an Obama-Keyes rematch in 2008 are next to nothing.
• I am officially out of touch with Major League Baseball. Jim Thome hit his 500th home run Sunday, and I've never even heard of the guy before. Regardless, a game-winning shot was a pretty cool way to get number 500.
• Speaking of baseball, Tribune Company executives must be especially excited to see the Cubs in first place this year. A post-season appearance would make the franchise even more valuable when it goes up for sale this winter.

Labels: Chicago, highways, US politics

- posted by David Johnsen @ 4:05 AM 0 comments

 
June: Time to Buy a Ski Mask
A Chicago Tribune article tells how state police are using a photo radar system to nail speeders in the Dan Ryan Expressway construction project.

The 45 m.p.h. construction-zone limit is in effect around the clock, although under state law, the photo-radar vans are allowed to operate only when work is being done. Speed will be enforced by regular patrols at other times, officials said.

The 24-hour construction speed limit is the most ridiculous practice on Illinois highways. I could swear this wasn't always the case -- I seem to remember long ago seeing signs that said "when workers present" or something to that effect. In recent years, the state legislature has increased fines to a minimum of $375 for speeding tickets in construction zones, claiming that their goal is to prevent workers from being hurt. But if the speed limit and fines are always in force, how can they claim it is to protect the workers who are home in their beds? Virtually any sober, alert driver can safely drive well over 65 m.p.h. past a line of jersey barriers, barrels, or cones. Any $375 ticket written while no work is being done is simply revenue for the state -- the enforcement serves little useful purpose. In fact, having a reduced speed all the time only trivializes it. When I see lights flashing or message boards saying that workers are present, I pay attention. When I see an orange 45 m.p.h. sign, I just get annoyed (for example, one night around 1 AM I drove 15 miles on I-88 in rural Illinois on a one-lane road with a 45 m.p.h. speed limit and never even saw another car going in my direction.

The article provides useless information tagged on the end about fatalities in construction zones:

There were 26 deaths, including one construction worker, in work-zone accidents in Illinois last year. Thirty-nine fatalities, two of them workers, occurred in work zones in 2004. In 2003, 44 people were killed in work areas, five of them workers.

What makes this information useless? There is no mention of whether speed was an issue in any of those deaths. Without causality, how can readers assess the importance or value of speed limit enforcement?

Okay, now here is where the ski masks come in:

Under state legislation passed in 2004, tickets will not be issued if the photograph of the driver's face is not clear.

So there you go, folks. If they can't figure out who you are, they won't send you a ticket!

Labels: highways

- posted by David Johnsen @ 6:05 PM 0 comments

 
Dan Ryan Construction: Ironic Headline
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is preparing for a huge reconstruction project on the region's busiest highway, the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94). All of the express lanes will be closed, leaving only three lanes open in each direction and cutting the road's capacity in half. IDOT wants cars to use alternate routes and keep trucks on the narrowed highway. The Chicago Tribune ran a story yesterday titled "IDOT's plea: Stay off the Ryan." But the headline on today's follow-up cracked me up:


Of course, the state does have a backup plan -- to simply let traffic back up!

This is going to be such a mess. The Dan Ryan is busy all day at full capacity -- I have driven home at 4 AM just to avoid the traffic. The alternatives on Chicago's South Side just aren't good. Many adjacent neighborhoods are marginal or downright scary. I can imagine an out-of-towner becoming frustrated by the traffic and exiting the highway only to find himself in a really bad situation. And it's not as if the alternate routes are underused right now. The construction could turn every major north-south street on the South Side into a parking lot.

My advice to out-of-towners: if you're just passing through, cough up the cash to drive on the Tri-State Tollway. That goes for anyone going to the suburbs -- you have no reason to drive through downtown Chicago to get there. If you do have to go downtown, do you really need a car? Check out the Metra commuter trains and the South Shore Line, which runs from South Bend to downtown Chicago. There is also construction on both the Kingery Expressway (I-80/94) and the Chicago Skyway (I-90), so your best bet coming from the east would be to park at a South Shore station (the line runs parallel to the Indiana Toll Road) and take the train.

Dan Ryan construction is scheduled for completion in late 2007. For more information, check out the highway's Web site.

Labels: highways

- posted by David Johnsen @ 1:12 PM 0 comments

 
Why I Hate Driving the Expressways Late at Night
I love it when there's no traffic, but it seems like this sort of thing happens all the time in Chicago, especially on the Eisenhower and Kennedy Expressways:

Police suspect a motorist was going 110 m.p.h. early this morning when he crashed into the rear of a semi-trailer truck on the Eisenhower Expressway in west suburban Hillside, CLTV reported.

What the heck are these idiots thinking? I mean, I'm no prude about speed limits, but this is ridiculous. And it happens late at night every night without fail. I'll be cruising along at 70 mph in the right lane with the flow of traffic (speed limit 55), and someone will fly past like I'm standing still.

Urban highways just were not designed for that kind of driving. Sometimes these guys get lucky and don't hit anything. Other times they kill themselves, but far worse, they often kill innocent drivers or passengers. I'm afraid some night I'll be the one who gets rear-ended by one of these lunatics.

Labels: highways

- posted by David Johnsen @ 9:50 AM 0 comments

 
Put Willie's Name On The Road Again!
As if Texans Bush and DeLay aren't causing enough trouble for our country, two Republican Texas state senators are standing in the way of a proposal to name an Austin highway for Willie Nelson. Although he isn't my favorite Texan musician, Willie holds a legendary position in the canon of Texas music. For that reason alone he should get a highway, just like Alabama has a Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway (alas, that road wasn't designated until 44 years after Hank's death). But no, these darned fuddy-duddy Republicans don't want a Willie Nelson "On The Road Again" Highway (or whatever they were going to call it) to run through their little fiefdoms.

According to the article, the no-fun Repubs complained about Nelson's "fondness for drinking and smoking, and active campaigning for Democratic candidates." Drinking? Do they want to bring back Prohibition, too? That worked so well the first time. And Hank's reputation for drinking certainly didn't stop Alabama from honoring him. Smoking? Well, the article dances around the issue with that single word. I'm sure what they oppose is his marijuana smoking. He even does public service announcements for NORML that argue for decriminalization and legalization (NORML calls Willie "our most beloved marijuana smoker"). Heaven forbid they name a highway after a pot smoker! (For the record, I have never smoked pot, and I really don't care either way about the issue.)

As for Nelson campaigning for Democrats, why don't you just grow up, you partisan hacks! Besides, most good musicians are Democrats (as opposed to the rah-rah, flag-waving suck-ups in Nashville), and a founder of Farm Aid like Willie couldn't sleep at night supporting the big business party (I know the Dems take a good chunk of change from corporations, but the Republicans, particularly the two mentioned at the beginning of this post, have raised corporate butt-kissing to an artform).

And before anyone offers the "he's not dead yet" argument, note that the state legislature designated a Nolan Ryan Expressway in Brazoria County in 1995. There is also a Nolan Ryan Expressway in Arlington (I'm not sure who named it) running past the stadium that Bush built with taxpayer money as part-owner of the Texas Rangers. Did I mention that Ryan is a Republican? I recognize that Ryan's strikeouts and no-hitters have nothing to do with that. Why can't these state senators see that Nelson's singing and songwriting achievements (not to mention his general reputation as a Texas icon) have little to do with his politics? Let Willie have his highway!

Labels: highways, Texas

- posted by David Johnsen @ 12:57 PM 0 comments

 
Illinois Toll Hikes: An Activist's Misleading Criticism
Governor Blagojevich (who happens to live just a few blocks from me) just unveiled a plan to double tolls for truckers and for people who pay cash instead of using the automated I-PASS system. From yesterday's Daily Herald:

Wadsworth resident Susan Zingle, of the Lake County Conservation Alliance, was not so patient. She said doubling tolls for drivers who pay cash will have a "devastating impact" for Lake County residents.

"That is an unconscionable burden to put on people," Zingle told the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's board Thursday morning...

Now wait a minute. Ms. Zingle is trying to tell us this will have a "devastating impact" for Lake County residents? I sincerely doubt this. First of all, Lake County is pretty affluent overall. I don't think the guy driving his Lexus to work is going to sweat a higher toll. He probably has I-PASS anyway. Besides, there is only one tollway in Lake County, and there are plenty of alternatives (US 41 and IL 21, for starters). "An unconscionable burden," she says? Anyone who uses the tollway enough to be burdened will get an I-PASS unit. The people who will really bear the brunt of this increase are truckers, out-of-towners, and occasional users (am I going to get an I-PASS transponder for the 2-3 times per month that I drive on the tollway?).

Why are higher tolls "unconscionable?" With all the things going on in our country today, I hardly think toll increases are worthy of such hyperbole. Heck, using the tollway is completely voluntary. Nobody is forcing anyone to pay anything. In that sense, it is one of the fairest "taxes" around (vs. taxes for schools, libraries, forest preserves, etc., which we pay for whether we use them or not).

Ms. Zingle is clearly full of it, but at least I know why. Although Blagojevich said nothing about it, increasing tolls could eventually fund an extension of IL 53 into Lake County. That's why Zingle is getting all bent out of shape. I just wish people would be more up front about their agendas or at least that the newspapers would call them on it.

Labels: highways, Illinois politics

- posted by David Johnsen @ 6:25 PM 0 comments