Illinois

This week brings us to Chicago:

This is the northern terminus of the Stevenson Expressway, I-55, at US 41 (Lake Shore Drive) a bit south of downtown Chicago.

Most of the ends of interstates I’ve encountered in the US tend to be rather anticlimactic.  However, at least I-55’s north end benefits from the distinction of ending on the shore of Lake Michigan, at a road that is remarkable in its own right (Lake Shore Drive).

Oh, and that would be Chicago’s McCormick Center at the left-hand side of the image, in case you were wondering.

A couple of blogs I follow have mentioned that the May issue of Popular Mechanics includes a feature called, “10 Pieces of U.S. Infrastructure We Must Fix Now”. I’ve seen the feature mentioned in the context of Atlanta’s water shortage, but the entire list is actually rather interesting to me (not surprising, given my interests):

• Circle Interchange, Chicago
   
• Brooklyn Bridge Approaches, New York City
   
• Industrial Canal Locks, New Orleans
  (Ships can wait 36 hours for clearance to transit, creating a drag on the efficiency of the Port of New Orleans. PM doesn’t mention that survivors of the Lower Ninth Ward would like to see the canal itself fixed by being filled in….)
   
• Atlanta’s water system
  (PM estimates 18% of the daily water consumption in ATL is the result of leaky water mains)
   
• Alaskan Way viaduct, Seattle
   
• Lake Okeechobee dike, Florida
   
• Dover Bridge, Bonner County, Idaho
  (Northern Idaho bridge for US95, scores 2 out of a possible 100 in sufficiency rating.)
   
• Wolf Creek Dam, Kentucky
  (Kentucky River dam deemed in enough danger of collapse that TVA reduced the water level behind it, to reduce flood risk to downstream towns, including Nashville.)
   
• Sacramento River levees, California
  (Remind me not to write flood cover on the Arco Arena, or on SMF.)
   
• O’Hare

None of those are surprises, and many of them are slated for repairs in the next few years, assuming funding remains available. However, it’s nice to be reminded every once in a while of some neglected priorities.

(How much money have Presidential candidates raised to date for this election cycle?)

Seen at Insurance Journal:

The Illinois Hospital Report Card Act was signed into law in 2003 and requires hospitals to report statistics such as infections, staffing levels and the ratio of patients to nurses. At the time, it was to be the nation’s first move to document hospital-acquired infections, and health care advocates said it would allow people to choose hospitals based on how well they do.

But officials say the report card won’t be ready for public release until October.

That’s riling U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who as a state senator in 2003 was a champion of the legislation and has been promoting the idea on the presidential campaign trail. In a written statement to the Tribune, the Chicago Democrat said officials need to make sure the work gets done.

“Patients have the right to information about the cost and quality of hospitals so they can make informed decisions about their health,” he said in the statement. “We need to be sure we are making these report cards a reality.”

You’d think that a Senator, of all folks, knows how slowly the wheels of bureaucracy can turn (especially when a special interest group doesn’t want them to turn).