Lane Markers On Lake Shore Drive's Oak Street Curve Completely Worn Away
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's already one of the more dangerous parts of Lake Shore Drive. Now the curve at Oak Street Beach is even more challenging for drivers to navigate.
CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports the white lines separating the lanes along the Oak Street Curve have completely worn off. One driver said it's like bumper cars trying to find their proper space.
The problem is worst just as drivers approach the curve. The striping between the lanes is gone.
After exiting Lake Shore Drive at Grand Avenue, motorist Rafael Gaspar said, "There's no lines."
He said that makes it dangerous for drivers.
"They need to obviously be more visible … just to prevent injury, crash and what not," he said.
Kyle Churillo also noticed the lane markers had worn away.
"It makes it a little more dangerous when driving in a lot of traffic," he said.
Grooves in the road between lanes were still visible, but in rain or snow, it would be virtually impossible for drivers to distinguish between the lanes.
Kathy Pasic said she's not surprised the city has allowed the lane markings to get so bad.
"I'm not surprised anymore at anything," she said.
Another driver said she suspected it's the result of "the city of Chicago cutting corners again."
The Chicago Department of Transportation said they placed 60,000 new street markings last year, including skip dashes, but they didn't get to the Oak Street curve on Lake Shore Drive. Officials also said the thermoplastic used in the striping can't be put in place unless it's warm enough.
"Our taxes are really high, so they to come out here and fix that for us," Karla Dunn said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, after repeated calls to CDOT, CBS 2 learned the contractors used for lane striping have agreed to come out this week, but only after the forecast proved favorable to re-stripe the lanes.
Normally the independent contractors the city uses close up shop until March, but this week's unseasonable temperatures will allow them to fix the problem this week.
The bad news is that will mean lane closures on Lake Shore Drive through Friday, as crews work on replacing the lane markers in between rush hours.
