CHICAGO — Even the lightest drizzle in Chicago can spell disaster for the city's rush-hour traffic. Case in point: Wednesday morning.
After bad weather delayed President Obama's departure to 10:45 a.m. from O'Hare, Politico reporter Jake Sherman accurately predicted that the schedule change would spell trouble for commuters Wednesday morning.
This will be nice for morning traffic in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/19kvAeo5el
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 28, 2015Obama was in town to deliver remarks to the International Association of Police Chiefs in Chicago Tuesday afternoon. He also caught a Bulls game while in town.
Wednesday morning he was set to leave his Kenwood home for O'Hare Airport at 9:35 a.m., but his departure was pushed back more than an hour by "bad weather."
This was equally bad news for commuters who aren't president of the U.S.
It said 75 mins to O'Hare...from downtown 😭😭😭😭😒😒😒😒😣😣😣😣 #Chicago #traffic
— PrettyDope (@tres_bomb_chel) October 28, 2015Trapped in a cab in Chicago traffic. Hope I make make my flight to #YYZ so I can fight the traffic there. #IACP2015 @OACPOfficial #AMU
— Michael Sale (@MikeAtAMUCanada) October 28, 2015Scheduled lane closures as part of overnight work on Lake Shore Drive further bottlenecked traffic. The Chicago Department of Transportation said they were expected to be reopened by 3:30 p.m. Wednesday ahead of the afternoon rush.
Wednesday morning's traffic was further jammed up by a crash on the Dan Ryan at Marquette Road, where a semitruck jackknifed just before 3 a.m.
All local lanes blocked on the IB Dan Ryan @ Marquette due to a jack-knifed semi. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/ZgrMwqGnJv
— Derrick Young (@Derrickcyoung) October 28, 2015All the congestion made work difficult for Chicago's broadcast traffic reporters.
"It was bad from the beginning," said veteran WBBM morning traffic reporter Bart Shore. "I need to go have a stiff drink, now."
Bart Shore discusses this morning's nasty commute:
Just before 6 a.m., WGN traffic reported accidents on Lake Shore Drive at Fullerton and at the Irving Park Road off-ramp.
Accident SB Lake Shore Drive at Fullerton, and also at the off-ramp to Irving Park Rd., ax with a car into a tree.
— WGN-TV Traffic (@WGNtraffic) October 28, 2015Add a little rain to the mix, and you've got a perfect storm of a traffic nightmare.
It's been a busy morning! #Chicago #Traffic https://t.co/RfttMNexNk
— Misty Callahan (@MistyACallahan) October 28, 2015Chicagoans were not happy.
chicago traffic is the best thing ever (i'm lying)
— spooky ghost (@littlebeene) October 28, 2015This is a complaining about traffic tweet but seriously Chicago what is going ON lately?! #commutefromhell
— Christine Cotter (@christinecotter) October 28, 2015Chicago leads the world in fossil fuel consumption due to suburban cars stuck in traffic during excursions and commutes downtown.
— Chicago Facts (@chi_facts) October 28, 2015I could actually literally walk faster than my bus this morning. #CommuteFail
— Lydia Vincenty (@LydiaVincenty) October 28, 2015For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
