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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No Volcanos in Illinois…. Phew

Posted on April 27th, 2010 by

The fiasco may be coming to a close, but the travel industry will feel the impact of the Icelandic volcano for quite some time. In Chicago, plenty of Europeans were stranded, and our residents had to cancel business trips and vacations.

With $200 million lost each day to the airlines, and over 750,000 passengers affected, we have to be grateful for the occassional snowstorm that shuts down O’Hare and Midway.

So the next time you deal with a stranded traveler, remember that it could be worse…

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