This piece includes reporting by Austin Busch, with additional background info and commentary by John Greenfield.
On Tuesday evening, Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) hosted a virtual meeting to update residents about the ongoing Complete Streets construction projects on Kedzie and Archer avenues in Brighton Park.
The initiatives includes a 1.6 mile stretch of Kedzie (3200 W.) between Archer (about 4330 S. here) and 31st Street. 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 project includes a 4-to-3 road diet and slip lane removals on Archer, protected bike lanes, pedestrian upgrades, and bus boarding islands.
Prior to the event, the ward distributed a survey to residents. It asked about new or consistent concerns with the project they would like to be addressed.
Recent construction of the project has faced a backlash from some Facebook users, and in the form of a change.org petition featuring an AI-generated image of the corridor. The fact the visual is ersatz is obvious from the gibberish painted on the hood of an imaginary ambulance, depicted as being obstructed by a traffic jam. However, actual Chicago first responders have told Streetsblog that Complete Streets designs aren't actually causing delays for emergency vehicle drivers.
A post on the Brighton Park Community Facebook discussion group even shared a screenshot of SBC's recent article about Ald. Pat Dowell forcing CDOT to tear out bikeway protection on 18th Street on the Near South Side. Notably, the OP didn't link to the actual article, which explains why the 18th project is a good idea, and Dowell's actions showcase the downside of aldermanic prerogative. On the contrary, they argued that Ramirez should kill the Archer project as well.
Another Sir Thomas Bringdown III regarding this project is Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), a right-leaning frequent opponent of Mayor Brandon Johnson, which is ironic, because his ward doesn't even include Archer. Lopez posted on X about Tuesday’s meeting and calling the Archer Avenue project "the culmination of a new pro-bike, anti-vehicular traffic agenda of the Johnson Administration."
Not mentioned by Lopez: Since 2020, drivers have killed several people walking and biking on Archer since 2020, including including at least four seniors. this is evidence that Archer badly needs a road diet and traffic calming.
Recent pedestrian and bike fatality and injury cases on Archer on the Southwest Side, from left to right: pedestrian Zofia Chruszcz, 72, and Ryszard Stebnicki, 75 killed at McVicker Avenue; Maria Ochoa, 88, killed and a woman, 73, injured at Laramie Avenue; Jan Kopec, 83 killed at Kostner Avenue; a pedestrian killed at Pershing Road. Image: John Greenfield via Google Maps
In response to the criticisms, Ramirez held Tuesday’s meeting to "level-set, inform, and update the community" on the Kedzie and Archer projects past and future.
Traffic safety a community priority for Brighton Park
At yesterday's hearing, Ramirez said she launched outreach around traffic safety soon after she took office in May 2023. "One of my first one-on-one meetings was with a mother who lost her son crossing the street,” she said. "We learned very quickly that our office needed to make sure that our community members felt safe on our streets."
Southwest Collective cofounder Dixon Galvez-Searle provided an overview of the community process that has occurred so far, highlighting the breadth of engagement. He noted that since 2023, the Chicago Department of Transportation has held 20-plus community engagement events about traffic safety in the neighborhood with community stakeholders and the general public. At least two of them were specifically about the Kedzie and Archer proposals.
During the outreach, 80 percent of respondents stated they experience dangerous driving in the neighborhood. Brad Huff from CDOT’s Complete Streets team covered the traffic safety data that backed up the findings from those community meetings.
"Traffic injuries in Brighton Park are outpacing the rest of the city," Huff said. “Compared to other community areas, Brighton Park experiences more than double the rate of traffic fatalities for people walking.”
CDOT also determined that through-traffic was involved with most injuries to vulnerable road users. "We found that 70 percent of drivers who have hit someone walking or biking live outside of Brighton Park," Huff said.
The community traffic safety efforts coalesced Kedzie and Archer because these arterials contained a large share of crashes in the neighborhood. That's due in part to the fact these roadways have multiple lanes in each direction and limited crosswalks.
CDOT first proposed plans for Kedzie and Archer projects at a community meeting in June 2024. The department later presented revised plans in June 2025 that addressed community feedback. Over 500 residents participated in the process.
"[CDOT] ran with the community feedback and put together a plan that they felt would address the safety concerns of the neighborhood, Galvez-Searle said.
Presenters and staff at Tuesday’s virtual meeting, including Ramirez (top center), Huff (top right), and Galvez-Searle (center).
Grilling the plan
Following a presentation covering the most frequent survey questions, CDOT and the alderman’s office conducted an extensive Q&A with meeting attendees, going for almost an hour more.
Addressing the issue of why bike lanes were included in this project, the team pointed to a network barriers analysis revealing limited access routes to the neighborhood. "The crossing of the Stevenson [Expressway] and the Sanitary & Shipping Canal has been an issue that we’ve heard at CDOT for decades,” said Huff. "There is no way for folks outside of a vehicle to safely and comfortably cross these major barriers, and Kedzie was identified as the only feasible way to do so."
And, of course, Archer is the most efficient cycling route between the Midway Airport area and downtown. However, most of it currently lacks bike lanes, let alone protected ones.
Extending the new protected bike lanes bike lanes on Archer east of Western towards Chinatown will be challenging, since that segment is under Illinois Department of Transportation jurisdiction, which adds bureaucratic barriers. Existing the existing bikeway on Pershing Road (3900 S.) and park pathways in McKinley Park were suggested for east-west travel.
"This particular section of Archer [between 47th and Western] is under local jurisdiction," Huff noted. "So we had a lot more control as a city, and were able to move much more quickly."
The Kedzie and Archer projects are especially focused on improving the many unmarked crosswalks. Almost all pedestrian crossings will have get a pedestrian signal, marked crosswalk, and/or other safety features like sidewalk bumpouts and pedestrian islands. CDOT also emphasized the work put into measuring traffic volumes at left turn sites along the corridor, which will be get dedicated turning lanes, and are expected to improve traffic flow on the corridor.
Nearby residents asked about installing speed bumps to discourage drivers from using residential roads as crosstown "cut-through" routes. CDOT responded that they would explore this option once travel patterns settle. The designs designs call for narrower turning radii for drivers heading from the arterials onto residential streets, which is meant to discourage heavy truck traffic.
Asked about how the street remix will impact the #62 Archer bus, CDOT discussed upcoming bus boarding islands. These will expand the sidewalk waiting area and allow bus drivers to pick up passengers without having to pull to and from the curb, shortening trip times.
“When we talk about a safe street, it’s a street that’s organized,” Huff said. "We’ve done our best to balance the needs of things like traffic flow, while also balancing the need for the family to cross Archer to get to Kelly High School [at Archer and California Avenue (2800 S.)]."
New year, new bike lanes
CDOT has already completed curb extensions and pedestrian islands on Kedzie, and will install pavement markings and signs installed throughout December, wrapping up around New Year's. Work on Archer will be underway for longer, with curb extensions and pedestrian islands constructed through mid-December, markings in late December, and signs through mid-January.
Construction on Archer between Sacramento Avenue (3000 W.) and Pershing (near Kelly High) is planned for later in 2026. Archer is expected to be repaved next year, with phased construction pouring asphalt around the new concrete curb installations.
CDOT personnel noted that the current construction has resulted in a temporary narrowing of lanes to allow for safe work zones, and that the completed project will have wider travel lanes. "Construction is a hassle and a change," Huff said. "Based on all of the data and all of the concerns we’ve heard over the years, these are big changes that we feel are necessary to make these two streets safer."
Ramirez promised the ward would work with CDOT to provide more frequent project updates, distribute an FAQ, and that an alternative Spanish-language engagement opportunity would be arranged.
The corridor is also currently undergoing a land use planning study with Chicago's Department of Planning and Development and the Regional Transportation Authority's Community Planning Program. Known as Moving Archer Forward, this covers a longer section of Archer from Halsted Street (800 W.) to Kedzie.
Materials about Archer Avenue can be found here.
Materials about Kedzie Avenue can be found here.
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