How Tri-Cities traffic woes compare to Chicago’s most frustrating expressways

Randall Road, backed up with traffic during rush hour from Main Street in Batavia north to Dean Street in St. Charles.

Kirk Road, with traffic slowly trudging along during rush hour and all of its stoplights seemingly turning red just as you approach them.

Fabyan Parkway and its Route 31 intersection, a busy spot on a busy street, can make a driver quite nervous, especially if trying to turn left onto 31 through what seems to be really narrow lanes.

All three can increase the blood pressure of any driver, but would we label them as making us angry? Would they be the “angriest commutes” we make in the Tri-Cities?

This question comes up in the wake of Munley Law, a personal-injury law firm, revealing the results of a survey in which 3,015 drivers in the U.S. were asked which roads they associate with “the most stress, frustration and aggressive driving.”

And it revealed the choices made by Illinois drivers in picking their top three. Many of us have been on all of these routes many times, and it is easy to agree with these findings.

At the top of the list is the Stevenson Expressway, or I-55, in Chicago, especially the area where it feeds into Central and Cicero avenues, which take commuters to Midway Airport.

You have to give yourself a lot of time to get to an airport, but it is especially true when trying to navigate the congestion on the Stevenson.

In second place is the Kennedy/Dan Ryan area, or I-90/I-94, which Munley calls, and rightly so, “the backbone of Chicago’s interstate network.”

Third goes to the Eisenhower Expressway, or I-290, which is the choice of many in the Geneva and Batavia areas because of the I-88 on-ramp located just south of where Kirk Road becomes Farnsworth Avenue that eventually becomes I-290.

What did Munley say makes respondents most angry about this tollway? The short on-ramps and heavy merging activity during peak traffic hours.

When driving the Eisenhower to attend a Bears night game with my sister and her husband during their visit from New Mexico a few years ago, they couldn’t believe the traffic. My brother-in-law wondered how I could stand it.

It comes with experience, practice and patience, that’s how.

So, by comparison, should our logjams on Randall, Kirk or Fabyan Parkway really make us angry? Or are they just distractions when one is anxious to get to work or home?

Readers have described Randall as our version of the Dan Ryan, and the padre at my church some years ago got a few laughs when saying during a sermon that Randall and Kirk roads might be places to practice your praying. We understood what he meant, based on our experiences.

The best thing that could happen when rating the “angriest commutes” would be that somehow our political leaders and transportation gurus could come up with some way to fix them. Our track record is not terrible in that regard.

Think of what downtown St. Charles might be like if not for the Prairie Street and Red Gate Road bridges? It’s still not an easy downtown commute, but it’s not as bad as it could be.

Unfortunately, when the numbers of drivers overwhelm a road that was built decades ago, there is little room for improvement or a total do-over. Sure, we fix our roads, but that’s not the same as redesigning them.

On a smaller scale, that is what is going on with East State Street in Geneva, and we’ll have plenty of angry commutes trying to get through that construction zone in the near future.

But maybe the best example comes from Munley’s findings about the No. 1 angriest commute in the country. That honor falls to Washington Parkway in Baltimore, Maryland.

The parkway was initially designed as scenic route, but carries far more traffic now than was intended, Munley noted. It has limited shoulders and a two-lane-each-direction layout that creates bottlenecks at all merge points.

Accidents often block lanes entirely, Munley states, extending delays on a route that has heavy traffic from early in the morning until late at night.

Now, that’s something to get angry about.

Ultimately, when we get angry about a commute in our area, maybe we should just tell ourselves, “Well, at least it’s not the Washington Parkway.”

Sales across the city

Only a few days are left before the April 3 signup deadline for those wanting to participate in the citywide garage sale in Geneva the weekend of April 24-26.

Participants will have their address and key items listed on a map to be distributed to key locations in town and posted on the Geneva Chamber of Commerce website. Participants will also receive a garage sale sign to post near their home.

The chamber says it takes care of the advertising, marketing, printing and distributing of material.

You can save $5 by registering before April 3. Cost to sign up at genevachamber.com is $30. After April 3, it will $35.

Participants in the City-Wide Garage Sale wanting their location listed on printed and online maps, must register by April 3 at genevachamber.com through the listing under “Events” on the homepage.

Cake and custard

When cake is included as part of a milkshake or sundae treat, it is sure to attract my attention.

Thus, Andy’s Frozen Custard lured me into checking out a press release about its brand reaching a 40th anniversary, celebrating it with a sundae creation called the Andyversary Chocolate Cake Concrete.

That means vanilla custard combined with what the company says is a “whole slice of fudgy chocolate cake.”

It goes on with more information about all sorts of sundaes, but noting this chocolate cake treat is available through April 28. I won’t rule out a pit stop there.

Café gets a boost

This Batavia restaurant sounded quite good when I wrote about it a few years ago as an option for food from another country without traveling to do so.

Touting Argentine cuisine, Bocaditos Café in Batavia recently received a boost from a national program.

The restaurant, at 11 N. Batavia Ave., was one of only 12 Illinois businesses selected to receive a 2025 Backing Small Business Grant of $10,000.

Recipients use the funds to purchase new equipment, expand menu offerings and make other improvements. Bocaditos owners did just that, purchasing an espresso machine, ice machine and small oven, according to Batavia MainStreet.

The grant for Bocaditos adds another in a growing list of Batavia businesses that have earned the honor. Others were Limestone Coffee & Tea, Sturdy Shelter Brewing and Sidecar Supper Club.

Batavia MainStreet notes that New Moon Vegan in the past was awarded both the grant and a $30,000 enhancement grant.

Batavia MainStreet is a not-for-profit organization with volunteers working to promote and enhance Batavia’s downtown offerings.

Third time no charm

In a few days, I will be heading into my third surgery in 10 years for removal of a tumor from my bladder.

In that regard, I am familiar with this particular rodeo and know what to expect. Still, it doesn’t make the third time a “charm” in any way.

It allows me to remind both men and women that if you spot blood in your urine, don’t wait to have it checked. My first time, the urologist said it was good I came to see him. He felt too many don’t bother calling the doctor at the first signs of trouble.

Left unchecked, the tumor would have grown through the wall of the bladder and spread like wildfire to other organs. He didn’t come right out and say it, but I got the message. I would have been pushing up daisies at that time instead of cheering the Cubs to their World Series title.

Did you know?

With so many factories along the Fox River in Batavia producing wagons, farm tools and windmills for local settlers, it made sense for residents to suggest the village needed a fire department.

It was the early 1860s and citizens figured the last thing Batavia needed was a major fire in an industrial building spreading to residential areas. But there was no organized firefighting, other than a “bucket brigade” of citizens called into action if a fire broke out.

A petition was forwarded to the town board, essentially asking for help through the creation of an organized fire department. The board responded with the creation of a department of 20 or more volunteers, a captain and an assistant. A loan of $3,000 was approved for the process in 1866, according to Batavia historical documents.

Firemen were paid $1.50 per call, as were the men pulling the fire hose carts. Yes, men did it prior to horses or the first automobiles being used.

As Batavia grew, hose companies were established on the west and east sides.

When the city outgrew its bucket brigade and water supplies were in question, the board submitted a referendum to establish a waterworks system. In late 1893, that proposal was approved and essentially assured the fire department would grow as a professional city service.

William Thrun was Batavia’s first full-time paid fireman in 1917, with the department obtaining its first motorized fire engine that same year.

dheun@sbcglobal.net