Ashland makes me angry. I thought the commute in general made me angry, but then due to the Ike construction and the Congress construction and the Lower Wacker contstruction, I started taking Ashland, and that's when I really started to hate my commute.
For 4 years? (something like that) I took Lake Shore to Lower Wacker to the Ike, and though at times it was overwhelming and awful, it was pretty much okay. I didn't mind it. Going through the park always seemed like such a crap option, anyway, and I have a great love for Lower Wacker, so maybe it was better than pretty much okay.
Then all that crap started in the spring, and I switched to Belmont to Ashland to the Ike and vice versa (with a brief interlude called North Avenue), and my life became hell.
Not in the morning. I like Ashland in the morning. It gets me to the Ike in about 18 minutes (give or take), and I don't have to deal with Congress or the bridge work. It's nice.
Nope, the afternoon. The afternoon on Ashland just seemed to get worse and worse. People driving terribly. Missing every light. Hoardes of traffic at Division and Milwaukee and trucks loading furniture and inept use of turn lanes and just....aaaagh. Horrid. Let's not even talk about the killer stretch between Cortland and Fullerton. Makes. me. want. to. scream.
Two weeks ago, it took me 43 minutes to get up Ashland. 43 minutes from the Ike to Belmont. Here is how that feels: like someone is killing you slowly, by degrees, by beating you with a blunt object. Maybe I exaggerate, but it wasn't good, okay?
So I decided, bam! I'm done with Ashland in the afternoon. And so far, I've been taking the Ike through the Loop, through the park, and then I go up Lake Shore. It's actually mostly proved to be faster, but even if it's not, even if it takes more time, the park and Lake Shore give me something that Ashland can't do with its stoplights and bad drivers and slow slow slowness.
Somehow, being away from those roads made me love them more. I love the lake and the skyline and parks. I love seeing people being Chicagoans, making use of the lakefront. This commute feeds my soul in a way the other one never can. It's worth 5 or even 10 extra minutes to not show up at my house like a raving, murderous lunatic. It's worth it to enjoy the city for those five or ten minutes, to enjoy the city in a way I never get to, spending at least 40 hours of my week away from it. And I can't wait (CANNOT WAIT) for the new Lower Wacker to open eventually, so I'll get back to that soul-affirming ride to work in the dark and mist and loveliness that is LSD to Wacker.
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