If you're like me, two weeks ago your jaw dropped when you heard the Illinois Department of Transportation removed all for options for dedicated transit lanes from consideration as part of the North DuSable Lake Shore Drive rebuild plan. Click here to review the full Meeting Presentation that made this shocking announcement.
Perhaps you went through some of the five stages of grief. Personally, I experienced denial, then anger, and then depression. (Ice cream helped with that last one.) But, fortunately, acceptance doesn't need to be one of those stages. Here's what you can do in the near future to make a difference.
Public Open House at Truman College on Thursday
This Thursday, August 8, IDOT and the Chicago Department of Transportation are hosting this event they say will discuss planned "improvements" to North DLSD / U.S. 41 between Hollywood and Grand avenues. It's remarkable they're pretending that rebuilding an eight-lane waterfront highway during a climate crisis, due to lack of political courage, could represent an upgrade.
The open house will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. at Truman College's Main Building Cafeteria, 1145 W. Wilson Ave. right next to the Wilson Red Line station. Click here to see the flier.
The event "will feature staffed exhibit areas to share and discuss the analyses and proposed project features as well as an audio-visual presentation that will be shown continuously," IDOT says. "Exhibits will review the five finalist multimodal roadway alternatives presented earlier, along with their evaluation results, the Recommended Preferred Multimodal Roadway Alternative, and recommended [watered-down] lakefront improvements for people walking, biking, and taking transit to, from, and within the north lakefront corridor and Lincoln Park."
There will be IDOT and CDOT staffers at the open house with the unenviable task of trying to justify the agencies' dubious claims. You can feel free to (politely) give them a piece of your mind about the DLSD decision, and submit written comments. (Again, please try to refrain from four-letter words.)
As it turns out, those evaluation results include ridiculous statements like "NDLSD transit improvements will not cause a substantive mode shift from auto to transit." So they're saying that if there were car-free express bus lanes on the drive, so that transit riders wouldn't get stuck in traffic jams created by solo car drivers, that wouldn't cause a significant number of drivers to take the bus more often? Even IDOT's previous survey results found that 60 percent of motorists on the drive would use transit if it came more frequently and didn't get mired in automobile congestion.
If you can't make it to the Truman event in person, you can email (civil) feedback to the project at info@ndlsd.org. If you send your (non-profane) input by September 9, they'll include it in the official record for the open house.
Save Our Lakefront Rally at Truman that evening
Would you prefer to express your DOT displeasure in a more three-dimensional manner? Many advocates and elected officials, who recently called on the departments to not to basically rebuild the highway as-is and instead make the lakefront more walk/bike/transit-friendly, are joining forces once again. They're staging a Save the Lakefront Rally on the same day, Thursday, August 8, at 5 p.m. outside Truman on Wilson Avenue. Here are the current event sponsors:
- Active Transportation Alliance
- Better Streets Chicago
- Chicago, Bike Grid Now!
- Commuters Take Action
- Edgewater Environmental Coalition
- Sierra Club Chicago
- Urban Environmentalists Illinois
Per Kyle Lucas from Better Streets, progressive politicians State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-26th), Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th), and Ald. Maria Hadden (49th), and other lawmakers may attend. "We anticipate a strong community turnout, as many are very displeased with these plans," Lucas said.
"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not only reimagine our lakefront, but also to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our city and region," the advocates state in a press release. "Despite this window of opportunity, the current proposal, called 'The Essential,' will largely rebuild the highway as it currently exists. This is the result of a decade-long planning process that has been flawed from the start – and has routinely ignored criticism from community and leaders."
They're calling on Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson to pull rank to force their respective departments to stop the presses. They note that for years residents, advocates, alderpersons, and Illinois General Assembly have been lobbying for a NDLSD redesign that puts people first, not cars. "We refuse to be ignored any longer," the campaigners say. "It is clear that the existing planning process is insufficient to incorporate meaningful community input to shape a people-centered future for the lakefront, and therefore it should not continue."
They're demanding the following:
- Stop the current planning process. "In recent months, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly passed resolutions calling for a non-highway alternative, and more than a dozen members of Chicago City Council have expressed their opposition."
- Restart the process with a broader vision for our entire lakefront and new leadership. "Plans for large-scale redevelopment on or near the lakefront, such as the proposed Bears Stadium, the Obama Presidential Center, the former Michael Reese hospital site, the Michigan Avenue 'Magnificent Mile' corridor, and the quantum computing campus proposed at the former US Steel site will have a dramatic impact on how people use and access the lakefront."
- Ensure the project supports existing city and regional climate and transportation goals. "NDLSD is identified as a key corridor for the Chicago Department of Transportation’s and Chicago Transit Authority’s Better Streets for Buses plan for transit priority streets, but current plans limit transit improvements to only the access ramps."
- Commit to an accelerated timeline. "We can and should set a clear timeline for completion for a reinvigorated planning process to avoid another decade of engagement and discussion."
"This project may have been in the planning stages for a decade, but its impact will be felt by the next 100 years of Chicagoans," the advocates conclude. "It is critical that we get it right, but IDOT and CDOT have proven that they are not equipped to be good stewards of our city’s crown jewel. Our leaders MUST take action today and save our lakefront."
So if you're as dismayed as I am about IDOT and CDOT's Robert Moses-style plan for North DuSable Lake Shore Drive, don't get angry. Become an activist.
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