AVONDALE — The first round of reconstruction for a set of botched barricades built to “create a less comfortable sleeping arrangement” for homeless people at a Kennedy Expy. underpass has cost upward of $42,000 so far, according to city documents.

The 5½-foot tall steepled concrete fillers appeared in May between more than two dozen support beams beneath the Kennedy Expy. at Belmont and Kedzie avenues. The barricades line a stretch of well-traveled sidewalk that also serves as the site of a decade-old homeless encampment.

But the barricades, a joint project between the city and state transportation departments, were halted mid-construction in June due to safety concerns. The barriers blocked views of the sidewalk from the street and motorists' views of pedestrians.

Sloped barriers designed to discourage homeless people from sleeping under the Kennedy Expy. have been shortened and redesigned with smaller angles, according to a revised plan from the Chicago Department of Transportation. View Full Caption City of Chicago

Darryl Holliday talks about the financial and emotional cost of the barricades in the neighborhood:

The botched “crash wall modification” currently sits in various states of completion at the underpass at a cost of at least $42,897, according to a project report obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.

That amount includes wages for 21 days of work by about 20 employees and at least $11,000 in overhead costs, but does not include costs for materials.

According to 35th Ward Ald. Rey Colon, the sloped barricades were designed to make it harder for homeless people to sleep on top of them after neighbor complaints of lax security at the underpass. A meeting with city agencies followed to produce a plan, but in May Colon said plans were put into action at the site without notice or approval from his office.

A revised project plan from the city shows the height of the barriers being reduced 2 feet, but the hollow barricades will need to be redone. The revised plan also includes a reduction of the barriers' slope from a sharp 63 degrees to 34 degrees.

Though several street cleanings have taken place since June, resulting in the temporary relocation of the homeless, the site remains a regular homeless encampment as transient men and women return shortly after each cleaning.

Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Pete Scales did not return multiple calls seeking comment on the cost of the measure.

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