‘Star student’ still solving problems
Tinley Park man implements roadwork plan around Obama Presidential Center
Even as a child Hussein Mohd wanted to help find solutions to the structural problems his dad faced as a civil engineer.
“I remember coming to him and asking him what’s going on, and he told me what was going on at a site and explained it to me,” Mohd said of his father, who works for Princeton Technical Services.
“I saw he was trying to find a solution, and I would ask about that solution and how he would solve the problem.”
That early inspiration helped Mohd, who lives in Tinley Park, work toward his current job as a structural civil engineer for the international firm Ardmore Roderick, where he’s now tasked with improving access to the Obama Presidential Center under construction in Hyde Park.
He’s guiding workers as they reconstruct and widen an area that includes south Stony Island Avenue between 59th Street and 64th Street into two lanes in each direction. It will have a planted median and additional safety features for pedestrians.
The work also includes removal and closure of south Cornell Drive between Midway Plaisance and Hayes Drive, which Mohd said would allow for more green space around the center in Jackson Park. There also will be three new underpasses under Hayes and Cornell drives for improved pedestrian access to the new center.
“The area is going to be very busy, so we have to take care of everything around it to make sure everyone is safe, there is accessibility to everyone and no traffic,” Mohd said.
Other improvements include widening of south DuSable Jean Baptiste Point
DuSable Lake Shore Drive; adding an additional lane and resurfacing from east 57th Drive to east Hayes Drive; rehabilitation of the 57th Street pedestrian underpass; reconstruction of the east 57th Drive retaining wall; widening of east 59th Street pedestrian underpass; widening of the east 59th Street inlet bridge; and widening of the east 63rd Street pedestrian underpass.
“My job is very rewarding to see what was on a plan come to life,” Mohd said.
His job is also time-consuming and he