Signs Of Summer More Construction Work On North Division This Summer Means You Can Count On Delays, Overheated Tempers

It’s summer, lazy season for barbecues, Slurpees, swimming - and North Division traffic snarls.

For the third summer in a row, the North Side’s main north-south thoroughfare will be a mess. The finished product - expected to be done in 1998 - promises to reduce some commuting logjams, but for now, well, it stinks.

“Oh, this is just wonderful,” said North Division restaurateur Chet Ortman, rolling his eyes.

Commuters will soon empathize. The street will be reduced to two lanes of traffic each way, beginning this week until the fall. The roadwork will likely be done by early October, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Road crews are building a third southbound lane between Euclid and Wellesley, the same stretch of roadway affected last year when a third northbound lane was added.

To do so, the crews are closing one lane to bury utility lines and knock out the existing sidewalk. Work has already begun near Euclid.

Al Gilson, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said drivers won’t face as much gridlock this summer.

“I don’t anticipate that it will be quite as bad because we have the extra lane going north-bound,” said Gilson.

The 30 mph speed limit will remain, but Gilson pleads with drivers to be watchful of construction workers. And as an extra incentive: a speeding ticket in a road construction zone carries doubled fines.

“Have a heart for those guys,” said Gilson.

This summer’s work is the second in a three-part, $35 million project to widen North Division from the Spokane River to Francis.

After this leg of work is completed, another two years of summer construction fun are expected as the state widens the roadway from Queen to Francis.

“We are just going to have to face this again this year,” sighed city traffic chief Bruce Steele. “We’ve probably got a few more years of this.”

To avoid the mess, Steele recommends drivers take Monroe Street, where traffic counts are down. Last year, many drivers took Lidgerwood and Addison, prompting complaints from residents along those streets.

The city traffic department won’t resurface any major north-south roads, keeping them clear for displaced North Division drivers, Steele said.

While drivers map alternate summer commuting routes, North Division businesses, which depend on high drive-by traffic, anxiously hope they don’t. Most between Euclid to Wellesley weathered last summer with low revenues and frustrated customers, and loathe a repeat.

“It was bad,” said Ken Semerad, co-owner of Boyd’s Vacuum, at Division and Empire on the east side of the street. “We were about all but closed up for a while.”

He estimates 1995 summer revenues were half the store’s norm. In addition, he had to remodel the store to compensate for the lost 10 feet abutting Division.

This spring, some businesses along the west side of Division had to close for remodeling. And now they face a summer of jackhammers in front of their storefronts.

The North Division International House of Pancakes closed for five weeks to tear down an atrium that would have stuck out into the widened road.

IHOP franchise owner Theresa Ray said her restaurant lost 35 of its 126 seats and several rows of parking. The state paid her $166,000 for remodeling.

But it didn’t have to make up the estimated $65,000 in gross revenues she lost. She expects to have a slow summer as drivers avoid the construction.

“We know not to drive down North Division, but we don’t need the media saying it,” said Ray, laughing at her misfortune.

Next door, at the Casa Rosa restaurant managed by Ortman, employees hustle through a newly remodeled building. The state paid owners about $500,000 for land and remodeling, according to court documents.

The restaurant, formerly Papagayos, closed for six months and laid off about 25 employees. Owners lost between $20,000 and $40,000 in net revenues, Ortman said.

“When you close down, you lose your customers,” said Ortman. “You have to advertise to pull them back in.”

The state paid for Just Roses, a flower shop, to relocate from Division and Euclid to 1320 North Ruby, 10 blocks south. The state also moved several pianos at Squires Music Center to protect them from vibrations and dust.

The cost of inconvenience for several businesses is being argued by lawyers (see accompanying story). But the state is not required by law to make up for lost revenue, just pay for remodeling. That frustrates Ray.

“The money (the state) is offering businesses up and down Division is not enough,” said Ray. “They come in and destroy your business life, with no thought for the repercussions.”

Most business owners acknowledge the project’s larger good - and possible eventual pay off of more customers.

“Who knows, time will tell,” said Semerad of Boyd’s Vacuum. “In the end, I think we will probably get it back.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)