Workers dig a trench as part of a $2.5 billion project to replace Chicago's cast iron natural gas pipes with plastic pipes. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Heather Cherone

PORTAGE PARK — A project to replace aging natural gas cast iron pipes with plastic pipes has made a mess of pickup and dropoff at St. Pascal School, school officials said Wednesday.

Crews plan to shut down Dakin Street, which is one way westbound south of the Portage Park Catholic school, forcing parents to figure out a new route to get their preschool through eighth-grade students to class on time. Work is also underway on Melvina Avenue west of the school, 6143 W. Irving Park Road.

People's Gas, which is part of WEC Energy Group, in the midst of a multibillion-dollar project to replace 2,000 miles of pipe and to move gas meters outside in an effort to deliver natural gas to homes and businesses more safely and effectively.

The construction has forced St. Pascal Principal Denise Akana to plead with parents to walk their children to school, rather than stopping on Irving Park Road in front of the school and clogging rush hour traffic.

"If it was up to me, [People's Gas] would have done this work this summer before school started again," Akana said. "But it is not up to me. I just hope they'll work fast."

Work began this summer on the pipes beneath Dakin Street, and the second phase of the work began Monday, said People's Gas spokeswoman Jennifer Block.

Crews will work east to west along Dakin Avenue from Major Avenue to Melvina Street, before heading north across Irving Park Road and south to Cornelia Avenue. That work is expected to be completed by mid-November, Block said.

Company representatives are working "to alleviate any disruption to parking and traffic around the school and church while construction is underway," Block said.

After the work, crews will repair the streets and parkways disturbed by the construction, Block said, although complaints that the restoration work isn't being done fast enough have been frequent.

Initially, Akana told parents in a letter that dropoffs would not be permitted in front of the school, and instead directed them to park in the church's parking lot on the north side of Irving Park Road and walk their children to the front door with the help of a crossing guard stationed on Irving Park Road at Melvina Avenue.

But when work started Monday few parents followed those instructions, Akana said, forcing school officials to come up with a new plan.

Parking spots have been designated in front of the school for parents of students in each grade to park, and the littlest students are allowed to enter the building before upper-grade students, Akana said.

But that has snarled traffic with parents parking on Irving Park Road, Akana said. Starting next week students will enter via a school door that will allow all students to enter as they arrive, she added.

"It is not my choice to do dropoffs on Irving Park Road," Akana said, adding that she is trying to accommodate parents. "I know it is difficult for parents."

The cast iron pipes — some of which were buried and put in service around 1900 — will be replaced with polyethylene plastic, commonly called PE, which will be safer, easier to maintain and allow natural gas to be delivered to homes and businesses more effectively, Block said.

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