Truman College

Please email any questions or comments regarding security or parking to trc-security-parking@ccc.edu.

Construction
Transportation Alternatives
Parking lot

Construction
The electrical consultants and ComEd are scheduled to start on the electrical work for the new building by December 2. Pending permit, water main work will begin November 28. After that's completed, temporary pavement will be installed on Sunnyside at Clifton and Racine until the building project is finished in 2010.

Transportation Alternatives
We will soon begin marketing I-GO and Zipcar car sharing services to students, faculty, staff. If you're unfamiliar with these companies, it's a like renting a car right off the street. You create an account and are issued a special card to open the car. The keys are inside and off you go. You pay by the hour; fees vary. We are not going to have Zipcars or I-GO cars on what's left of our parking lot, but there are "pods" of cars, as they call them, at several nearby locations. Both companies will send out information soon explaining the process. Car sharing is ideal for people who can walk, ride, or take the CTA most days but might need a car in emergencies.

Parking lot
Final placement of the fencing in our east lot will be finished by December 5. The electrical contractor should finish running lines to lot and replacing broken lights by December 11.

Friday, October 31, 2008

New Sewer Lines Underway
New Playground Design Complete

New Sewer Lines Underway
Work is underway on the sewer lines that will serve the new building. Electrical and water main work will begin soon. This will not effect movement on or around the campus.

New Playground Design Complete
Design work has been completed for the play lot used by children in the Child Development Lab School. It will be in the same place and feature much of the same equipment but with some repair work to the protective turf and a few new features, including a tricycle track. Someone call Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Improved access for handicap spots
Wilson - Sunnyside sidewalk open
Improved play lot...recycled concrete
Construction Project exhibit

Improved access for handicap spots
People parking in the handicap lot next to the college now have direct access to the college again through the archway under the old El tracks. The tracks, of course, are no longer there.

Wilson - Sunnyside sidewalk open
The new sidewalk running from Wilson to Sunnyside is open for business. Please use it since the mall itself will soon be closed to pedestrian traffic. Our thanks to Alderman Shiller and Streets and Sanitation for trimming the mall trees away from the street lamps, thereby providing more light along the route.

Improved play lot...recycled concrete
In the Good News Department, the play lot used by the children in our day care program will stay where it is and be improved. Also, we will recycle the concrete from our old parking lots and sidewalks for use in the new building.

Construction Project exhibit
And please take a look at the exhibit of site maps, drawings, and artist's renderings of the new building that are on display at the west end of the front lobby. They were collected and hung by Christine Kleis of the Public Relations Department and Coordinator of Operational Services Mike Ross. The drawings will soon be joined by an exhibit of black and white photos, taken by Christine Aguila of the Communications Department, of the construction project as it progresses.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

West sidewalk completed by Friday, October 3
Racine Mall closed to pedestrians in upcoming weeks
More spaces for drivers with handicap plates or placards

West sidewalk completed by Friday, October 3
The sidewalk running along the west side of the Racine Mall, between the construction fencing and the Technical Center, is due to be completed tomorrow, Friday, October 3. It will provide an easier, safer route from Wilson to Sunnyside.

Racine Mall closed to pedestrians in upcoming weeks
In the next couple of weeks, the Racine Mall will be closed off completely to pedestrians to become the main access road for trucks and equipment. At that point, we may have to move the stopping place for our remote lot shuttle buses. Currently, the buses stop on Wilson, right near the entrance to the mall.

More spaces for drivers with handicap plates or placards
According to the CTA, they will be finished with repairs to the underside of the El tracks next to the college by the end of the week. This means that we will have more spaces in that lot for drivers with handicap plates or placards. Our crews have finished tearing down the old El supports between the college and the lot. By the end of next week, drivers can walk straight from the college to the lot again instead of cutting through the alley next to the Red Line entrance on Wilson. By the way, if you're leaving late and you'd like someone to walk you through there, please ask Security.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The route from Wilson to Sunnyside along the mall between Truman's two buildings will be closed late this week (we'll confirm the exact dates) so the construction company can build a sidewalk through there.

Also, access to the main building from the handicap parking lot under the El tracks will be cut off for about another two weeks. If you would like an escort from the college to the lot via the alley off Wilson by the El entrance, please call Security, (773) 907-4800.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

The construction company is going ahead with plans to build a sidewalk through the west side of the mall to give students access to the Tech Center, O'Rourke Theater, and the gym. Also, pedestrians will be able to walk between Wilson and Sunnyside. The project should be completed before the end of October.

We will soon begin to relocate the play lot from its current spot to the strip of grass right next to the east side of the building, just outside the day care center itself. This will make the lot safer and easier to reach; the kids just walk out the door (only day care teachers have access) and into the lot.

And we are working on producing several large construction site signs that show a picture of the finished building and talk about time lines, features, etc.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

We and the Alderman's office are fielding questions from our neighbors to the south, who are concerned about access to Wilson Avenue from Sunnyside and vice versa. Currently, much of the Racine mall is open to pedestrian traffic, but that will end soon. The mall will become the road into the site for trucks and equipment; people will have to use the narrow strip of grass outside the fence, along the east side of the Technical Center. We are aware that the route becomes muddy after a rainstorm and are working with the construction management company to create a permanent path that will be dry and ADA compliant.

In other news, we continue to tweak the shuttle bus schedule, trying to make the ride quicker and more convenient for the greatest number of people. The latest version of the schedule is posted in this month's newsletter.

Only those people with disability license plates or placards will be allowed to park in the parking lot under the El tracks. If they don't have one of the above items, but still feel they have a disability, then they can go to the Unofficial Guide to the DMV website, which provides information on eligibility for a disability license plate/placard and how to apply. If you park in that lot or have visitors coming who will park there, know that those protective corrugated steel sheets that keep debris from raining down on cars will be gone soon. The CTA is removing them to work on the underside of the tracks and they will not be replaced. At this point, neither will the lights.