Detour dilemma turns Chicago alderman into traffic aide

A Northwest side alderman says he's ready to put his high-visibility vest back on and direct traffic around renewed utility work in his neighborhood.

"Sometimes you just gotta handle biz yourself," Lincoln Square Ald. Andre Vasquez told WBBM Newsradio about his decision last month to jump into service to help cars dodging sewer work near the complicated junction of Lawrence, Western and Lincoln Avenues.

Ald. Vasquez (40th Ward) said work closing Oakley Avenue put "20-30 cars all on one street all trying to come out on Western and Argyle, and it's not safe. A neighbor hit us up because their kid almost got hit ... and then somebody backed up into a garage fully and it collapsed on top of the car."

No one was hurt in that mishap, but Ald. Vasquez said it prompted him to call city departments for help.

"There aren't really any people in city government who can address that particular problem," he said, "and so I was like 'well, OK, I'm gonna go out there.'"

Ald. Vasquez says that work is expected to resume soon, and he expects to go back out there to help neighbors get onto Western Avenue without threatening the safety of each other or others: "That is what government's about. It's about delivering results. So if the departments aren't doing it, I'm more than happy to step in."

He's also hoping to work with Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration and fellow aldermen to find a way to close that loophole in responsibility through this fall's budget process.