Chicago trades to make BOATERS welcome downtown. Why?

mikea

mikea

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The Chicago Park District hopes to create a harbor for boaters looking for a temporary place to park their watercraft near downtown.

On Wednesday, district commissioners agreed to swap man-made structures with the city to create the harbor....

The Park District will hand over a concrete structure near DuSable Harbor so the city can create a helipad for first responders to emergencies. ...

The harbor will be used by people from other harbors or out-of-town visitors who want to dock for the day, officials said. ....

"Right now, there is no harbor for people visiting from Wisconsin or Michigan to just come and moor their boat," parks Supt. Tim Mitchell said. "This gives them the opportunity to bring their boat down, go to Navy Pier for the day, go to the museums, go out for dinner and then get on their boat to go home."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070314parks,1,6927196.story?coll=chi-news-hed
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It's still Bizarroworld. No mention of .....As long as it ain't does potential terrist rich pilots coming downtown, then OK.

And the helipad is needed WHY?
 
smigaldi said:
Because the current helo-pad down by Calument is so far away from downtown that no high paying executive customers are paying the city to use it.
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Nah. This pad is supposedly for emergencies. Now the fire department chopper has to base and refuel at 95TH street - 10 miles away - which means it spends more time going for fuel than working a fire downtown. That already was proven at a hi-rise office fire.

Meigs was the Fire Department's airbase. It was 1-2 miles away. The FD crew was appalled by the midnight raid.
 
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Paul Allen said:
I doubt it will be cheap to spend the night.
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I dunno... When I first started sailing here a few years ago, I was surprised to find how relatively inexpensive it is to keep a boat in the harbors. For example, a 30' mooring at Monroe Harbor (right by Buckingham Fountain... man that was a great view) was $30/foot/season... so $900. At least that's what it was a couple years ago, anyway, and it's not cheap exactly, but it's a lot less than I had thought it would be. Star docks and slips are obviously more, but I'm not sure of the exact cost. I would imagine slips are no more than twice the above... Again, not cheap but a lot less than one might imagine.

And in my experience, the Chicago Park District does a pretty good job maintaining the harbors. Plus you can't beat the convenience of being able to walk or bike or take a cab to your boat, so all in all, I'd say it's worth it.

Edit: And the above mooring fee also came with a Grant Park garage parking pass... Which is worth it's weight in gold itself.
 
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ReverendSlappy said:
I dunno... When I first started sailing here a few years ago, I was surprised to find how relatively inexpensive it is to keep a boat in the harbors. For example, a 30' mooring at Monroe Harbor (right by Buckingham Fountain... man that was a great view) was $30/foot/season... so $900. At least that's what it was a couple years ago, anyway, and it's not cheap exactly, but it's a lot less than I had thought it would be. Star docks and slips are obviously more, but I'm not sure of the exact cost. I would imagine slips are no more than twice the above... Again, not cheap but a lot less than one might imagine.

And in my experience, the Chicago Park District does a pretty good job maintaining the harbors. Plus you can't beat the convenience of being able to walk or bike or take a cab to your boat, so all in all, I'd say it's worth it.

Edit: And the above mooring fee also came with a Grant Park garage parking pass... Which is worth it's weight in gold itself.
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You didn't mention WHY that is such a great deal: You can't get a slip wit out knowing somebody. So if ya know somebody den we gotta take care o' ya.

Most of the boaters who have those slips wouldn't consider for a millisecond of lowering themselves to actually live in Chicago. They're all from the north shore burbs.

BTW, they also have put up tall wrought iron fences with access control around the docks so the great unwashed can't get too close, even if it really is park property.

I was at a park district meeting where the boat dock contractor presented his plan to add start docks and sink a ton of money in the harbor. It was enthusiastically received because the mooring fees were supposed to pay for it.

At the same meeting the Friends of Meigs "Parks and Planes" plan - which would not only cost nothing, it would have parks and a museum that mere mortals could enjoy, AND would bring money desparately needed for other parks - was greeted like looking at it would turn you to stone.
 
"The plan was to blow up Sears Tower by burning a few fuel or oil tanker trucks beneath it or around it."

"Cline noted that tanker trucks are not allowed in the Loop, and if somebody tried, 'They'd immediately be stopped. They wouldn't be able to get to the Sears Tower.'"
 
JohnR said:
"The plan was to blow up Sears Tower by burning a few fuel or oil tanker trucks beneath it or around it."

"Cline noted that tanker trucks are not allowed in the Loop, and if somebody tried, 'They'd immediately be stopped. They wouldn't be able to get to the Sears Tower.'"
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Yeah. I saw that, too. The only thing that stops trucks from driving through the loop is the truck drivers choosing not to drive through the loop. There aren't a whole lot of police cars around. I know. I've tried to find one to flag down a few times.

Chicago cops also don't write traffic tickets. I can't remember the last time I saw any vehicle pulled over by a Chicago cop. I suppose they still use "routine traffic stop" when they want to check out a suspicious vehicle, but not in my neighborhoods.

There are 18 wheelers and construction trucks in the loop fairly often. Lower Wacker which is UNDER Sears Tower was designed for the trucks. In fact, they just rebuilt it to make it higher so big trucks could get through.

I also never heard that tankers aren't allowed but some laws can be made up at press conferences. Kent?

Sears Tower DID know there was a threat after 9/11. They put in access control so you can't get the elevators without a pass. All visitors have to have the security desk call upstairs to get you in. They also put J-barricades and permanent barricades around the street level entrances to keep vehicles one lane away.
 
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mikea said:
Sears Tower DID know there was a threat after 9/11. They put in access control so you can't get the elevators without a pass. All visitors have to have the security desk call upstairs to get you in. They also put J-barricades and permanent barricades around the street level entrances to keep vehicles one lane away.
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. . . and plowed over Meigs.
 
mikea said:
You didn't mention WHY that is such a great deal: You can't get a slip wit out knowing somebody. So if ya know somebody den we gotta take care o' ya.
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That might be going a bit far... My friends were able to get a slip after one year on a mooring ball and one year on a star dock. And lemme tell ya, they're far from being "connected." :D

mikea said:
Most of the boaters who have those slips wouldn't consider for a millisecond of lowering themselves to actually live in Chicago. They're all from the north shore burbs.
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That doesn't surprise me. I wonder, do non-residents pay more? I know there's a reciprocal arrangement with many suburban harbors... Since my friends had a Chicago Park District mooring/star dock/slip, we've been able to sail up to Waukegan and get a transient slip for a night for free. I don't know if maybe there are some other provisions of that arrangement...

mikea said:
BTW, they also have put up tall wrought iron fences with access control around the docks so the great unwashed can't get too close, even if it really is park property.
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Yeah, that does kinda suck. But I've always been surprised at how many people actually live on their boats for the duration of the summer... I don't think it's unreasonable to afford them some modicum of security. And at Montrose Harbor, for example, the fencing seems pretty unobtrusive... It just prevents access to the slips themselves.

mikea said:
I was at a park district meeting where the boat dock contractor presented his plan to add start docks and sink a ton of money in the harbor. It was enthusiastically received because the mooring fees were supposed to pay for it.

At the same meeting the Friends of Meigs "Parks and Planes" plan - which would not only cost nothing, it would have parks and a museum that mere mortals could enjoy, AND would bring money desparately needed for other parks - was greeted like looking at it would turn you to stone.
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Yeah, that's pretty ridiculous. What's always seemed strange to me is the fact that the anti-aviation sentiment here seems to extend beyond the city government to the general population. I don't understand it.
 
mikea said:
Yeah. I saw that, too. The only thing that stops trucks from driving through the loop is the truck drivers choosing not to drive through the loop.
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Bingo.

I also never heard that tankers aren't allowed but some laws can be made up at press conferences. Kent?
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I have never heard anything about such a prohibition, and I've never seen such a sign. I've had my truck as close as the corner of Roosevelt and Ohio. Fill it full o' things that go boom and that'd cause some issues.
 
No truck on LSD. CPD actively will ticket trucks and that even mean the 4-wheeled variety if they were foolish enough to have B-plates (Ill registered truck plates). I drive a Jeep Cherokee with regular passenger plates and I can drive there all day long if I wanted too. A friend with also with a Jeep Cherokee got tickets on the LSD because he had B-plates. he went to court and still lost. So he has re-plated.
 
smigaldi said:
No truck on LSD. CPD actively will ticket trucks and that even mean the 4-wheeled variety if they were foolish enough to have B-plates (Ill registered truck plates). I drive a Jeep Cherokee with regular passenger plates and I can drive there all day long if I wanted too. A friend with also with a Jeep Cherokee got tickets on the LSD because he had B-plates. he went to court and still lost. So he has re-plated.
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Are you telling us that Chicago issues plates that allows some to drive on LSD? :eek::eek::eek:
 
smigaldi said:
No truck on LSD. CPD actively will ticket trucks and that even mean the 4-wheeled variety if they were foolish enough to have B-plates (Ill registered truck plates). I drive a Jeep Cherokee with regular passenger plates and I can drive there all day long if I wanted too. A friend with also with a Jeep Cherokee got tickets on the LSD because he had B-plates. he went to court and still lost. So he has re-plated.
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Yeah, that. No trucks on Boulevards and LSD is one.

There used to be this b* cop on the Kennedy who was the "Truck enforcer." He ticketed me twice for being in the 3rd lane with my Step van. Those truck lane restrictions are gone now.
 
Remind me again what the USS Cole bombers used to blow the ship up!...hmmmmmm was it a small plane?.....nnnno I don't think thats what they used. What was it again?
 
AdamZ said:
Remind me again what the USS Cole bombers used to blow the ship up!...hmmmmmm was it a small plane?.....nnnno I don't think thats what they used. What was it again?
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I thought it was a small plane?? Piloted by Chinese pilots. At least looking at the security and INS hoops that we all have to go through you would think those two were the greatest threats.
 
smigaldi said:
No truck on LSD. CPD actively will ticket trucks
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Trucks aren't allowed on LSD (Lake Shore Drive for those unfamiliar). There's a good reason for that. One of ours tried to go that way a couple of years ago, and it's about a foot shorter now... :eek: :no:
 
mikea said:
There used to be this b* cop on the Kennedy who was the "Truck enforcer." He ticketed me twice for being in the 3rd lane with my Step van. Those truck lane restrictions are gone now.
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No they aren't. :no: Go anywhere in the Chicagoland expressway/tollway system where there's at least two lanes in each direction, and trucks are not allowed in the left lane or sometimes the left two lanes. The only exceptions are the last mile or two before there's going to be a split (ie Dan Ryan outbound approaching the Ford/57 split, or Kennedy outbound approaching the Edens split).

In fact, for a while there was a spot on the Tri-state northbound where, due to construction, the left lane split from the other two for a couple of miles. There were a bunch of IL state troopers at waiting at the other end to bust all the trucks that got stuck in the left lane.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
No they aren't. :no: Go anywhere in the Chicagoland expressway/tollway system where there's at least two lanes in each direction, and trucks are not allowed in the left lane or sometimes the left two lanes. The only exceptions are the last mile or two before there's going to be a split (ie Dan Ryan outbound approaching the Ford/57 split, or Kennedy outbound approaching the Edens split).

In fact, for a while there was a spot on the Tri-state northbound where, due to construction, the left lane split from the other two for a couple of miles. There were a bunch of IL state troopers at waiting at the other end to bust all the trucks that got stuck in the left lane.
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Oh. I hadn't noticed the signs recently.

It doesn't make a lot of sense now that Hummers and Ford F-350s get passenger car plates, and RVs - even 60 foot long RVs - also were never trucks.
 
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