Dempster Road Work Continues, Tying Up Traffic

As motorists face delays because Dempster Street has been reduced to one lane between Olcott on the west and Osceola on the east in Niles, Scott Jochim, the village's public services director, explained AT&T is repairing underground cable.

AT&T responded to about 140 residents without phone service on  Friday, Sept. 2.

"They got service restored right away and then started to fix the problem permanently," Jochim said. That involved repairing the damaged and wet cable.

AT&T is allowed to make emergency repairs, but didn't request a permit, as it was supposed to, the department head said.

"I chewed them out," he added, but acknowledged the village would have given them a permit anyway because the work was necessary.

Jochim expects Dempster Street to be back to full traffic capacity by Thursday or Friday unless weather problems delay the work.