Transformers Filming

Posted on July 10th, 2010 by

Summer blockbusters are always exciting, and the filming of Michael Bay’s newest project is stirring things up downtown. Starting today, there will be all sorts of closures for the filming of Transformers 3.

Though filming will be ongoing through mid-August, it seems as though the majority of the traffic disruptions will be early on in the process. Today and tomorrow, shots are planned which will feature people jumping out of helicopters and landing in the park near the Aqua building in Lakeshore East. Needless to say, these areas will be closed to pedestrians as well as drivers when the jumpers actually take flight.

So what do you tell your clients? I’d go ahead and bookmark the CTA’s page on service disruption so you can deliver the most up-to-date news on closures, delays or reroutes.

As for road closures, they are listed as the following:

From 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday:

LaSalle Street will be closed between Jackson and Randolph streets.

Washington Street will be closed between Wells Street and Clark Street.

Randolph Street will be closed from Wacker Drive to Wells Street.

From 8 p.m. July 16 until 5 a.m. July 19:

Michigan Avenue will be closed from Wacker Drive to Ontario Street.

From 9 p.m. July 18 to 5 a.m. July 22:

Wacker Drive will be closed between Michigan Avenue and Wabash Street.

The filming will affect more than car and pedestrian traffic, however. Note that many of the river cruises and water taxis will be changing their dock locations if it interferes with the filming sites. For example, Shoreline will not be able to have its water taxis stop at the Michigan Avenue bridge during filming, but all other services will remain normal.

So keep your eyes peeled for Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, and John Malkovich, though they likely won’t be the ones jumping out of helicopters.

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Chicago’s $12B Tourism Industry Under Attack: Proposal to Close Chicago Lock & River

Posted on February 23rd, 2010 by

The Army Corps of Engineers has a plan in the newly released framework to close the Chicago Lock & River to limit Asian Carp from getting onto the Great Lakes.

There have been NO Asian Carp found within 60 miles of Chicago. The electric safety barrier is working.  We hate the carp! They should just go to where they are and kill them. Just kill them!

Any closure of the Chicago Lock & River would devastate the commercial passenger vessel industry part of the 12 billion dollar tourism industry here in Chicago. The government’s own experts say the locks are not made to stop fish. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent equivocating and no one is killing.

Our tax dollars are at stake along with part of Chicago’s tourism industry. This is a complex story but those are the basic facts. You can also question the fact that Asian Carp have already been found on Lake Erie but no DNA testing has taken place there. There are many tools available to kill and stop the carp but taking such an invasive knee-jerk action as closing the lock and river–which officials have said won’t work to begin with–is not the answer.  There are a lot of places to gather facts. Here are some:

>> Biggert, Illinois Chamber Urge Responsible Action on Carp
>> The True Facts About Asian Carp

Guest contributor Gregg Pupecki is the Director of Sales & Marketing for Wendella Boats & Chicago Water Taxi.

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