Mariano’s Contractor Builds Temporary Walkway For Metra Commuters

After Streetsblog reported on Leopardo Construction’s poor pedestrian accommodations during construction on Lawrence Avenue next to the Ravenswood station, where the contractor is building a Mariano’s grocery store, a company representative wrote to say that building a temporary walkway in the road wasn’t feasible. Soon after, however, a temporary walkway was added.

Leopardo safety director Jim McInerney commented on Friday’s post, saying that the temporary sidewalk closure was done in full compliance with CDOT, the Department of Streets & Sanitation, and the local alderman’s office. But full compliance doesn’t mean it’s a good solution for a pedestrian-heavy area outside of downtown, where parking and travel lanes are frequently converted to temporary pedestrian walkways during sidewalk closures. McInerney incorrectly claimed that there is a bike lane on Lawrence and said “there isn’t enough room… to create a pedestrian bridge on that side of the street during construction.”

On Saturday morning, however, Michael Hurley, a Lincoln Square reader, tweeted a photo of the new temporary walkway on Lawrence Avenue, in exactly the place where I recorded more than 90 Metra passengers walking in the roadway after disembarking from a train during the evening rush.