As I've discussed before, the de facto Chicago policy of aldermanic prerogative, which allows City Council member to veto infrastructure projects in their wards, is a major barrier to Chicago becoming a truly bike-friendly city. Historically it's led to bikeways largely being installed in districts where large numbers of constituents have lobbied for them, and/or the alder happens to be bike-friendly, These have typically been located downtown and in relatively affluent North Side neighborhoods.
But that dynamic has been starting to change in recent years. That's thanks in part to groups like North Lawndale-based nonprofit Equiticity; We Keep You Rollin' bike and wellness group in the Riverdale community; and Southwest Collective, which pushes for walk/bike/transit upgrades near Midway Airport. The Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways and the Chicago Department of Transportation have also been collecting input on ways to improve cycling on the Southeast Side.
And in the past few years, one of CDOT's most successful strategies has been the Neighborhood Bike Network project, which has increased opportunities for community input on bikeway planning in underserved communities. Last October the department's Complete Streets Director David Smith told Streetsblog that, during the previous two years, the program helped CDOT install around 50 miles on bikeways on the West Side.
As you can see from the department's Existing Bike Network map below (click here for an interactive version), the West Side is starting to catch up with the North Side for bikeway mileage. But parts of Chicago south of I-55 are still lagging behind, especially when it comes to "lower-stress" bikeways like protected bike lanes and Neighborhood Greenways (side street routes), shown as the thicker blue and green lines on this map.
However, last fall Smith had some good news about the Near Southwest Side. "This whole summer we've been engaging with the community and stakeholders in the Brighton and Gage Park neighborhoods, just south of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal," he said, referring to the waterway the closely parallels the Stevenson Expressway. "So you'll start to see some of those routes be implemented in the Brighton Park, McKinley Park, Gage Park areas."
This summer those efforts are starting to bear fruit. Recently CDOT and Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th), whose district includes parts of Brighton Park and McKinley Park, hosted a community meeting at Columbia Explorers Academy, 4520 S Kedzie Ave. They discussed proposed improvements to Kedzie (3200 W.) and Archer avenues within the ward.
Archer is an important southwest-northeast diagonal that runs from the city limits, past Midway Airport, to the South Loop. It's a key direct route between the Southwest Side to downtown, and if it was safer it might have comparable bike traffic to that of Milwaukee Avenue, the northwest-southeast shortcut that's Chicago's busiest cycling street. Instead, tragically, bike and pedestrian fatalities have been common on Archer during the past decade.
Most recently, on February 25, 2024, a pickup driver failed to yield while making a left turn, and fatally struck married couple Zofia Chruszcz, 72, and Ryszard Stebnicki, 75, at Archer and McVicker (6030 W.) avenues in Garfield Ridge.
CDOT is planning safe streets upgrades on a 1.6 mile stretch of Kedzie between Archer (about 4330 S. here) and 31st Street, which crosses the expressway and the ship canal. The Archer segment goes 1.9 miles between 47th Street (Archer is about 3600 W. here) and Western Avenue (2400 W., Archer is about 3730 S. here).
The proposed improvements include concrete-protected bike lanes, pedestrian islands, curb extensions, and board boarding islands. If you're unfamiliar with those features, see descriptions here.
Archer Avenue would also get new left turns as part of a four-to-three converstion "road diet", which CDOT notes will "keep traffic on the street flowing and... stop [drivers] from weaving in and out of [two lanes going the same direction.]" In addition, Archer would get slip lane closures at 47th and 28th streets, which would help prevent motorists from dangerously whipping around corners at high speeds.
During the presentation, CDOT provided the following impressive stats from recent road diet and protected bike lanes projects on the North and Northwest sides, in neighborhoods like West Town, Logan Square, Avondale, and Uptown. This demonstrated how these strategies would make Southwest Side streets safer.
"These upgrades are designed to address longstanding traffic safety concerns in the neighborhood, wide unprotected pedestrian crossings, speeding and unsafe passing, and a high volume of large vehicles on the road," said CDOT spokesperson Erica Schroeder. "As noted in the presentation, these designs are not final. We will continue to gather feedback and collaborate with community stakeholders in the coming weeks."
Ald. Ramirez, who was elected last year, spoke enthusiastically about the plan on Twitter. "Since taking office, I have worked with CDOT to implement ways to bring pedestrian safety throughout our ward. This proposal will bring vital infrastructure and address dangerous traffic concerns in the community."
Here's hoping that the alder and CDOT move forward with these proposed improvements, which would do a lot to make Archer and Kedzie safer in Brighton Park and McKinley Park. And hopefully this project will just be a small piece of the puzzle to reduce traffic dangers on the Southwest Side in the near future, and make this entire wedge of Chicago more people-friendly.
View the full meeting presentation here.
Check out the proposed street redesigns for Archer: 47th to Western and Kedzie: Archer to 31st at these links.
View a livestream of the community meeting on the 12th Ward's Facebook page.
Did you appreciate this post? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation.
