BCB's David Sameshima visited Wrigley Field prior to Tuesday's game and filed this report:
I arrived before gates opened. I was curious how they were going to logistically handle things, with Sheffield and Waveland Avenues reopened to traffic. It was mostly back to how they have set things up in the past.It was back to normal on Sheffield, with pedestrians not paying attention to traffic. They would just walk out, into the street, without looking for cars. I was at Sheffield and Addison when the TMA aides (Chicago Traffic Management Agency) closed Sheffield to traffic. This was at 5:30, which was 90 minutes before game time. Unfortunately, they did not coordinate the street closure. There were still cars coming southbound on Sheffield. The traffic aide at Sheffield and Addison seemed annoyed about this. Another traffic aide came over to clear the cars backing up on Sheffield, behind the where the traffic cones blocked the street.The visiting team bus was parked on the Sheffield Avenue sidewalk, outside of the Gate A area, back where it used to park. The only difference is that the Gate A is now being used as an employee entrance, due to the construction work. The bus used to park snuggly, right next to the gate. The bus is now parked away from the wall, to allow employee access to the gate.The garbage truck is now parked on the sidewalk, directly outside of the former Gate R. (There is no signage at this gate now.) This used to also be the VIP entrance. The trash dumpsters used to be outside the ballpark, next to the players parking lot, in what in now the plaza construction area. With this space not accessible, they are using garbage trucks to haul away trash during the game.Waveland Avenue is still being restricted to one way traffic, going eastbound. There is a traffic barricade at Waveland and Sheffield, along with temporary one way signs along Waveland Avenue. This measure has to be temporary, because of the firehouse on Waveland. They can't have a firehouse on a street with one way access. There are lane markings for two way traffic already painted on the street. The fast food delivery drivers are still ignoring the temporary signs, and turning right on Waveland from Clifton.The ballhawks are happy with the streets wide open again. They have to get used to watching for cars passing through again. They did come prepared with the rain forecast, and had a small canopy tent set up. While I was there, Tom Ricketts was walking through the bleachers, and gave a wave.After all these months of construction, it was eerie to see the everything looking pretty normal outside of the bleachers again. Well, normal except there's not much of the ballpark you can see from the street. The video boards, and the extended bleachers, really do restrict the view.
With the streets now open and most of this year's work now finished, we'll be doing less frequent updates during the season. David will continue to stop by from time to time to document the plaza work, and then we'll have more frequent photo updates during the offseason, when construction will ramp up again.
The "offseason," of course, we hope starts in November.