PORTAGE PARK — Crews will begin a second attempt next week to build two pedestrian refuge islands that were "installed incorrectly" just south of the Six Corners Shopping District, city Transportation officials said Thursday.
The concrete islands were built earlier this year in the 3800 and 3900 blocks of North Cicero Avenue to "create a safe haven for pedestrians trying to cross" the four-lane thoroughfare, according to Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the city's Transportation Department.
But the structures were positioned in a way that "impeded the flow of traffic," Hofer said. Workers later removed the islands and filled the spaces with concrete.
Officials could not immediately provide details on the project's cost, or how much the do-over will cost taxpayers.
The islands are being funded by the city, and not from 45th Ward Ald. John Arena's discretionary infrastructure budget, said Owen Brugh, Arena's chief of staff.
"As you might imagine, we're frustrated by this," Brugh said.
Elsewhere in Arena's ward, crews are building nine refuge islands along a 2-mile stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in Gladstone Park.
