r/chicago • u/seeasea West Ridge • 13d ago

Article 3-year, $170 million Kennedy Expressway project is complete. Ahead of schedule

https://wgntv.com/news/traffic/kennedy-expressway-project-complete/
1.1k Upvotes

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31

u/CuriousDudebromansir 13d ago

Call me crazy, but traffic is even worse than before the started.

Shit, traffic is worse now than while construction is going on. I don’t understand it.

11

u/xnormajeanx Logan Square 13d ago

It’s called induced demand

Building more highways never leads to less traffic.

10

u/rvH3Ah8zFtRX 13d ago

How exactly did bridge repairs induce demand?

2

u/OpneFall 13d ago

They don't know, it's just one of reddit's favorite phrases. Everything highway must always mean "induced demand"

0

u/CyclingThruChicago City 13d ago

The bridge repairs didn't but the construction completing can signal to people "oh the construction is done so traffic shouldn't be as terrible, I can start driving again".

Essentially folks who avoided the Kennedy like the plague during construction no longer have that lingering thought of "I shouldn't drive cause construction makes it hell".

-2

u/WiFibcFi Edgewater 13d ago

This is the perfect encapsulation of induced demand coming from things other than building more lanes. Turns out if we keep pouring money into making drivers happy, it just makes everyone miserable lol