As SBC recently discussed, many folks who use sustainable transportation in Lincoln Square are thrilled by the current pedestrianization of Lincoln Avenue between Leland and Lawrence avenues for construction on Leland. That project is creating a new plaza by the Western Brown Line station, as well as a two-way raised bike lane that will add the missing link to the Leland Greenway bike-ped-priority route.
On Friday, April 25, local Ald. Matt Martin (47th) announced in his newsletter that workers recently came across a "degrading brick structure" (hopefully it wasn't too offensive) around ComEd electrical equipment. As such, "the temporary closure of Lincoln Avenue between Lawrence and Leland will unfortunately need to be extended by another week."
Unfortunately? Tell that to these kids having a blast on car-free Lincoln last Tuesday.
However, Ald. Martin wrote, "We recognize that our local businesses have been struggling amidst this work and will continue pushing construction crews to move as quickly as possible."
Block Club Chicago's Alex V. Hernandez reported on Friday that, as a result of the unexpected repair needs, this segment of Lincoln will remain car-free through mid-May, according to 47th Ward Chief of Staff Josh Mark.
Hernandez spoke to a few local business owners who have had some issues with the current car-free layout, including delivery difficulties. However, some delivery workers have been able to access their destinations via Giddings Avenue and Giddings Plaza, aka Kempf Plaza, located part of the way through the currently car-free segment of Lincoln.
Andrew Pillman, owner of the Lincoln Square Taproom, 4721 N. Lincoln Ave. and Willow Café & Bistro, 4729 N. Lincoln Ave. (a Giddings Plaza-side eatery which recently replaced Café Selmarie), has mixed feelings on car-free Lincoln. "The pros are, it does make it a lot more walkable," he told Hernandez. "It does seem like there are a lot more families out," Pillman said. "But it does make it hard for people to just show up that maybe don’t live within a few blocks of this particular stretch."
Pedestrianizing Lincoln doesn't doesn't really make it harder for people to walk, bike, or take transit to the shopping district. And clearly it would be best for all concerned if nobody drove to go drinking at Pillman's bar.
But what about seniors who normally drive to eat at Willow Café? "It’s really hard for them to get here," Pillman told Block Club. "So they’ll pretty much just bypass the square this week since they can’t pull up and park in a handicap spot or put their hazards on."
Let's give the benefit of the doubt here, and assume he's talking about elderly folks with proper ADA placards parking in spots for people with disabilities. Or others briefly putting on hazard lights while illegally parking in a relatively non-hazardous location for a few minutes while they pop in to grab a coffee and muffin to go. Or at least I hope that's what he was referring to.
Now, no shade intended on Pillman. After all, last Wednesday, the Lincoln Square Taproom hosted a happy hour for the sustainable transportation advocacy group Strong Towns Chicago and the community organization Heart of Lincoln Square. That would also be very hypocritical of me, because I regularly take advantage of the Monday smash burger special and dog-friendly patio at his Uptown Taproom, 1265 W. Wilson Ave., a stone's throw from SBC HQ.
And no disrespect meant towards Ald. Martin either. He's one of Chicago's most sustainable transportation-friendly alders. While I'm sure that he loves the vibrant activity currently happening on car-free Lincoln, he rightfully wants to prevent hardships for local businesses.
That said, when I dropped by Sunday afternoon, much the Lincoln business strip was filled with revelers from all walks of life. And the only "struggling" I observed at local businesses was among staffers at cafés, restaurants, ice cream parlors, and taverns trying to keep up with the crush of customers. When I stopped for a bite at Jerry's Sandwiches, 4739 N Lincoln Ave., my server admitted he was having to hustle to keep up with lots of extra business that day, but said he appreciated the additional income.
Other folks who stopped by to check out the car-free street were browsing sidewalk sale items at Lincoln Avenue shops.
It seems like there's no reason Lincoln couldn't be a "walking street" on a regular basis. That's the norm in busy retail districts in many other world-class metropolises, such as Mexico City.
Granted, CDMX basically has nice weather all year whereas, despite climate change, Chicago can still have challenging winters. And our city had ideal spring weather yesterday, which certainly contributed to the turnout on Lincoln.
But since this stretch of Lincoln is no longer the through street it used to be, the huge success this weekend suggests there's no reason it shouldn't be pedestrianized all the the time, at least during the warmer months. At the very least, Lincoln Square decision-makers, how about piloting "Car-Free Weekends on Lincoln" this summer?
Here's a gallery of some of the other fun sights I saw on the corridor Sunday afternoon.
Read the Block Club Chicago article here.
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