The serious and fatal bicycle crashes that spurred the City of Chicago to build the Long Avenue Neighborhood Greenway were tragic. But today's celebration of the recent traffic safety upgrades, held at Portage Park Elementary School, was a hopeful and inspiring event.
In October 2023, the driver of a sedan fatally struck Josh Anleu, 16, as he rode his bike into the intersection of Waveland (3700 N.) and Long (5400 W.) avenues. And only about four months later, and one-eighth mile further north, in February 2024, a hit-and-run motorist critically injured Ernesto Vargas, 18, at Grace Street (3800 N.) and Long.
A month ago, the Chicago Department of Transportation announced the completion of the mile-long Neighborhood Greenway bike-and-pedestrian priority route. It runs a mile between Irving Park Road (4000 N.) and Belmont Avenue (3200 N.), connecting Chopin Park and the Portage Park green space. It was already a popular route for "606 fixie kids" on fixed-gear single-speed bikes who enjoy exploring the city together, including hanging out on The 606 elevated trail, officially called the Bloomingdale Trail.
The greenway project included a one-way conversion of Long at Addison Street (3600 N.), with contraflow lanes to allow two-way cycling, preventing drivers from using the residential street as a crosstown "cut-through" route. CDOT also installed speed humps to calm traffic; added paint-and-post sidewalk extensions at several intersections to shorten crossing distances; and lowered the posted speed limit to 20 mph.
The department also added a raised intersection at Berteau Avenue (4200 N.) and Long, next to the elementary school, including permanent concrete sidewalk bump-outs. While the very gradual slope of the intersection doesn't really force drivers to slow down, along with the narrower street layout and red pavement, it encourages them to do so, and well as making crossing the street easier for pedestrians.
Today's event was brightened by more than a dozen students from the school wearing yellow t-shirts featuring their panther mascot. Some of them held a banner reading, "On behalf of Portage Park Elementary, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your support in building safer roads in our community."
Also present were local alderpersons Ruth Cruz (30th) and Nick Sposato (38th). Ald. Cruz had promised safety improvements on Long during a vigil for Josh Anleu at his crash site in November 2023.
"We've seen instant results" from the infrastructure improvements, said CDOT Assistant Commissioner David Smith, formerly the department's Complete Streets director, during today's presentation. "We see a safer street, a more comfortable street."
Smith noted that before installation, drivers were clocked going as fast as 45 mph, a potentially deadly speed, on Long, and often blew stop signs. That was partly because it was possible use the corridor as cut-through for about 3.5 miles between Lawrence (4800 N.) and Grand (2045 N.) avenues. "You can't do that anymore with the installations that we put in," he said.
According to Smith, after the street changes were made, 97 percent of motorists staffers observed were driving 20 mph or less. Meanwhile, this summer the number of people CDOT counted biking on Long increased by 50 percent.
Smith thanked Portage Park Elementary Principal Maureen Wood and other staffers for their input on the Long project. "And thank you to you guys," he said, turning to the students. "We built this for you. Everybody here on the CDOT side, on the parent side, on the elected official side, we woke up every day excited about what we do. We're thinking about the future, we're thinking about you guys, and we're really building this city for you to take over."
After the ceremony, school parent and safe streets advocate Patrick Corcoran presented the officials with framed copies of the blueprint for the raised intersection.
The alders had positive things to say about the Long Avenue project. "This is the type of investment our community is looking for," said Ald. Cruz. "This brings safety to our children, but it brings safety to all of our residents. And when we feel comfortable, we feel safe to walk, you will see more people walking. You will see more people biking. At the end of the day, that will help fight climate change and it will have a positive impact in our communities and in the world."
"I understand there's some people that might be a little hesitant about the project," Ald. Cruz acknowledged. "Change is hard, but I hope that time will allow them to see the real benefit for the community."
"It's great," Ald. Sposato said about the traffic calming infrastructure. "We needed it badly. There are a lot of crazy drivers, and unfortunately sometimes it's the parents of the kids at the school. If you come out here at dismissal time, you really see the craziness."
However, Streetsblog readers may recall that both alders were among the majority who voted down a proposal to lower Chicago's default speed limit from 30 to 25 mph last February. That was despite the fact that data from peer cities indicates that lowering the speed limit to 25 has reduced dangerous speeding and crash fatalities. For example, recently New York saw a 23 percent drop in annual pedestrian fatalities, and its lowest pedestrian death rate in 100 years.
Most of the final speed limit vote. Ald. Cruz and Ald. Sposato were "Nay" votes.
Ald. Cruz had previously signed on as supporter of the legislation, which was sponsored by Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), chair of the City's transportation committee. So what made her change her mind?
"I decided to take a little pause on there, because... with the ordinance, we were moving a little too fast, and there were a lot of concerns that were still not being addressed, and we had agreed in the council to convene a working group to address those concerns that were still presented to us," Ald. Cruz told Streetsblog today. "And we thought that was going to be the plan: We're going to go move into the working group, and then eventually get to make those changes and pass the legislation. Well, that didn't happen, so we moved on to bringing back the legislation without addressing those concerns."
Ald. Cruz mentioned worries that the lower speed limit would result in more ticketing of Black and Latino residents. However, Ald. La Spata mentioned during the February hearing that the safety benefits of lower speed limits in New York and Boston happened without increased enforcement.
Today, Ald. Cruz also referred to concerns about the cost of replacing the speed limit signs, and the question of who would be responsible for doing the work. But at the Council meeting, Ald. La Spata said he decided to call the vote earlier because if it passed, the Illinois Department of Transportation would be willing to take care of the sign replacement on the major Chicago streets it controls.
However, that would have required passing the Chicago ordinance in time to get the IDOT changes approved by the end of Springfield's spring legislative session, which was May 31. "In conversation with our state legislative partners and conversation with the new secretary of IDOT [former CDOT commissioner Gia Biagi], we know that they stand committed and ready to act with us on lowering the speed limit on those streets as well, but they are not going to act until we act," Ald. La Spata said in February. "If we wait until after their legislative window is closed, we lose that opportunity."
"I'm still committed to making sure that that [the lower speed limit] does happen," Ald. Cruz told Streetsblog today. "The working group is going. I believe, so we can get there once we clarify some of the concerns."
Meanwhile, Ald. Sposato said that while he's in favor of safer speeds and fewer serious and fatal crashes, "I'm not in favor of changing our speed limit to [25 mph] like La Spata wanted to do."
According to CDOT records based on police data, speeding drivers have fatally struck three people on foot this year in Ald. La Spata's Far Northwest Side district.
The alder argued that lowering the speed limit wouldn't create safer streets. "[Most people] don't obey 30," he said. They're certainly not going to obey 25. It's going to create more road rage, and that was the reason I was against it. I made that perfectly clear in the hearing." And, like Ald. Cruz, he cited concerns about the cost and practicality of changing all the signs.
The 1st Ward office didn't immediately respond to questions about these comments from alders Cruz and Sposato. This post will be updated if we hear from them.
CDOT spokesperson Erica Schroeder said this today about the ticketing equity issue. "Earlier this year, City Council created the Equity in Enforcement Working Group, which has been meeting regularly to discuss speed limit enforcement in Chicago. CDOT has been one of several stakeholders participating."
Schroeder also clarified how IDOT could make changing the speed limit signs easier and cheaper. "Currently, under both City code and State statute, the default speed limit is 30 mph unless otherwise posted." she explained. "The City may, by ordinance, change this limit for streets under its jurisdiction, with the change taking effect once signs are posted. Similarly, the State may change the speed limit on streets under its jurisdiction which would be effective upon posting of the signs. Because 30 mph would still be the statutory default when no signs are present, the City would need to post 25 mph signs on all impacted streets. If the State of Illinois were to adopt a 25 mph default speed limit for urban areas [which has been proposed in Springfield], this uniform change could reduce the amount of signage necessary to communicate the law."
After the event wrapped up, Complete Street advocate Patrick Corcoran, who said he has worked in City, County, and State government, said he had some sympathy for the alders who voted against the speed limit change. "They're political animals," he said. "They reacted instinctively to feeling rushed and they were turned off. It could have been landmark legislation, but I think it was not handled with the kind of carriage it needed. Still, I'd like to see it revisited."
But the bottom line is, it might be a while until Chicago finally catches up with its peers and passes a 25 mph speed limit, proven to save lives. Before that happens, tragically, many more families in our city will lose loved ones to traffic violence.
Until then, it's some comfort that physical changes like the Long Avenue Neighborhood Greenway will force motorists to drive at safer speeds.
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