ISBA members who plan to travel from the south or southwest into a meeting in Chicago should not venture onto the Dan Ryan Expressway. It has been under construction since April 1 and will be throughout the White Sox season and into the fall Chicago Bears schedule. There are plenty of public transportation alternatives, such as the Metra routes depicted on this page:

RI, the Rock Island line, originates in Joliet and terminates at LaSalle Street Station, with stops in several suburbs along the way.

SWS, the Southwest Service, originates in Manhattan and terminates at Union Station, with several suburban stops.

ME, the Metra Electric, originates in University Park and terminates at Mil-lenium Station, with several suburban stops.

There also is a Heritage Corridor line (not shown) from Joliet to Union Station with four stops.

For more detailed information about train schedules, ticket prices, station and parking locations, access the Web site www.metrarail.com.

Other available alternatives are the Chicago Transit Authority routes. The Red Line starts at 95th Street and has stops along State Street. The Orange Line starts at Midway Airport and becomes the elevated track around The Loop. Access www.transitchicago.com for details.

Drivers who use the Stevenson, Eisen-hower or Kennedy Expressways may experience delays caused by backups from the Dan Ryan, so public transportation also provides better choices from the west, northwest and north suburbs.