Joliet Residents Must Remain Miserable: Ferak Column

(The following opinion column is by John Ferak, Joliet Patch's Editor, a frequent traveler on Joliet's streets.)

JOLIET — The next time you visit your Joliet grocery store or fuel up your vehicle at the gas station, pay close attention to the people around you. Get a good look at their faces. Look deep into their eyes. Chances are, they have a scowl, a mean, angry, spiteful look on their face and believe me, it has nothing to do with the elections or the latest Chicago Bears drubbing.

People around Joliet are raging mad because they are fed up with all the never-ending road construction. In Joliet, when one street repair project gets completed, it seems like three new ones immediately start the next day.

At Joliet Patch, it's hard to keep up with the litany of traffic advisories from the city of Joliet and the Illinois Department of Transportation. On Friday, one of my relatives reached out and asked if the Ruby Street Bridge was still open. (Back in October, the city of Joliet and the Illinois Department of Transportation could not come to an agreement on whether to shut down the bridge for technology upgrades, so for now, it's staying open.)

Since May, one of the worst places to drive your vehicle is through the streets of downtown Joliet. Even this month's annual Light Up the Holidays Parade is being moved because North Chicago Street is closed due to the construction. But at least in downtown Joliet, there's light at the end of the dark tunnel — come 2026. That's right, 2026, not 2025.

In 2026, the city of Joliet will celebrate the opening of its long awaited City Square across from the Rialto. Will Joliet's City Square become what The Bean is to downtown Chicago's Millennium Park? Probably not.

If any event, if you have the misfortune of visiting downtown Joliet during the daytime Monday through Friday, it's practically impossible to make your way out of the downtown to the west side of town. Have you tried crossing the Des Plaines River over the Cass Street Bridge lately? Good luck.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, as part of its never-ending scheme to punish the citizens of Joliet and create more misery for you, has reduced the one-way Cass Street Bridge from three lanes down to one lane since last summer.

For those of you who somehow managed to navigate over the Cass Street Bridge, making it over the one-lane pass, as if it's some span from a Bridges Of Madison County romance novel, the city of Joliet has made sure to greet you with lots and lots of orange construction zone barrels when you reach Western Avenue, Center Street and Plainfield Road, on the city's near west side.

For Joliet's travelers, the city's near west side has been taken over by dozens of pieces of construction equipment owned by Joliet's P.T. Ferro company. If your ears enjoy the constant beeping noises of construction equipment and trucks backing up, Center Street is the place to be.

As for motorists heading toward downtown Joliet from Route 30/Plainfield Road and Six Corners, sorry, you are out of luck. It's not going to happen. "Road Closed" barricades are placed along Plainfield Road where it turns into Center Street.

And these are just some of the main roads I've referenced above.

Driving through Joliet's Cunningham neighborhood last week, I saw plenty of orange barrels and heavy construction equipment tearing up the streets along Hickory and Summit, not far from Zobel's Tavern.

Have you driven along Glenwood Avenue near St. Joe's hospital and Maurie's Table restaurant? It seems as if P.T. Ferro has been working on that street project forever.

If you're thinking of sending out Christmas holiday postcards to some of your friends who moved away from Joliet, you might want to send them a photo showcasing all the construction equipment occupying the city's streets.

And be sure to include a message on your Christmas card, something like, "Wish You Were Still Here in Joliet, Illinois?"

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Joliet's Light Up The Holidays Parade Finds Different Location