Thursday, April 23, 2020

Motor Row Road Diet and Southbridge Construction Projects Continue Despite Covid-19?

A reader writes:
Beautiful day in the neighborhood.  A couple of snaps of two Slooprojects: Motor Row Road Diet and Southbridge
Road Diet on "Motor Row" Area of Michigan Avenue 
Southbridge Project on State Street

Despite the stay at home shelter it seems like some construction projects are continuing.  Seems surprising that these would be considered "essential".

The reader also sent a link to an article in Curbed Chicago from early April:
There are massive changes happening across the city: McCormick Place is transforming into a makeshift hospital, the Lakefront Trail is closed and empty, and a packed L train isn’t a problem. Amid these changes, the city’s construction industry is still operating—and work is ramping up on the massive Southbridge project.
The planned groundbreaking ceremony for the Near South Side megadevelopment was canceled due to the novel coronavirus, but its developers are pressing ahead with their plans to bring a mix of 877 affordable, market-rate, and public housing units to the site of the former Harold L. Ickes Homes. Residential construction is permitted as an essential service under Gov. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, but crews are still taking protective measures as they adapt to the global health crisis.
“It’s really a challenging time for everyone, and the safety of our partners and communities is our top priority,” says Christopher Johnson, of Community Builders—which is co-developing the Southbridge project with McCaffery Interests, the Chicago Housing Authority, the Illinois Housing Development Authority, and the city of Chicago. “Pretty quickly we realized what was going on and took immediate precautions.”
Johnson tells Curbed Chicago that his team is adhering to all OSHA and CDC guidelines and procedures, including practicing social distancing wherever possible and deploying additional hand sanitizer dispensers and handwashing stations. Equipment handles and control surfaces are constantly wiped down, and in-person meetings have migrated to virtual platforms.

Well i guess that's the answer...stay safe everyone!

(Hat tip:  LG!)

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