Gearing down for slow zone One of busiest construction seasons opens

Spring weather in Chicago is notoriously unpredictable, but localscan always count on one thing come April: roadwork.

Depending on the perspective, this year's construction season willeither be particularly bad or quite good.

Thanks to Gov. Ryan's $12 billion Illinois FIRST public worksprogram, this is among the biggest years ever for resurfacing,reconstruction and widening projects.

While that undoubtedly makes road contractors and politicianshappy, the motorists stuck in traffic will …