Daily Herald opinion: Major Kennedy rehab leaves few alternatives but to adjust our habits, attitudes

Expressway commuters in the Chicago area know only too well that the summer outlook isn't a question of whether major construction will tie up traffic, but where.

For the next three summers, the disruption will come to the gut of the Northwest suburbs with the upgrade of 36 bridges, the shutdown of reversible lanes and lane closures stretching from the Edens Expressway to Ohio Street.

The $150 million project begins this month, focusing on the inbound lanes through November.

As our Marni Pyke reported Wednesday, Illinois Department of Transportation officials say this 50-year-old stretch of roadway hasn't been rehabbed for 30 years and "the beating the Kennedy takes on a daily basis" is taking its toll.

However necessary the work might be, its frustrations cannot be avoided. But it might be possible to manage them somewhat.

This will be a good time, for example, for suburban residents to reacquaint themselves with Metra and the CTA after three years of COVID-induced abandonment. And, it will make sense to do even more precise planning around rush hours than usual when going back and forth to the city.

And, of course, it bears reminding motorists to manage their speed and their tempers.

We need to watch out for construction workers, and remember that courtesy and roadway awareness help keep traffic flowing. Accidents caused by excessive speed, inattention or a simple impulse to sneak up one or two cars in a 10-mile backup only increase the disruption for ourselves and others.

Finally, remember there is a payoff of sorts on the distant horizon.

"This is a major rehabilitation," said Jon Schumacher, IDOT Bureau Chief of Construction. "This is going to be something that's going to be out there for many years - that we should not have to come back to fix for a decent amount of years."

As a reminder, consider the improvements we're now enjoying on the Jane Addams Expressway after that stretch of highway's recent yearslong rehab.

Yes, sadly, there always will be areas we "have to come back to" somewhere in the region's vast expressway system, so it is naive to expect that even a project of this magnitude will result in permanent smooth sailing along every corridor.

Instead, we will be best served to acknowledge the disruptions that will occur, adjust our habits to adapt to them and, if only for our own mental health, avoid as much as possible complaining about something over which we have limited control but without which we will face only increasing problems and further agitation.