You may have heard the alderman’s late announcement that westbound traffic on Devon will be disrupted for the next 6 weeks because of sewer replacements at Richmond. It was nice of her to tell us the night before the work starts, although I had learned about this earlier Monday when traffic was slowed to a crawl at Talman by an angled, oversized street sign advising of the construction, which begins today.

Apparently Silverstein’s office was unaware of this project until the last minute. Or perhaps they were too focused on her re-election campaign to pay attention.

Westbound traffic will be rerouted at Western south to Peterson, then to Lincoln, then Kedzie, and eventually back to Devon. Eastbound traffic will not be affected.

What this really means for those of us who live in the area is that the East-West alleys on both sides of Devon will be even busier than usual with vehicles whose drivers ignore “No Thruway” signs.

Don’t look for an increased police presence to monitor traffic. They won’t be able to get through either.

This doesn’t say much for Silverstein’s working relationship with City departments. On the other hand, maybe it speaks volumes.