At Monday night's rally about the Archer Avenue traffic safety project in Brighton Park, there was an impressive turnout from both opponents and proponents on a cold and snowy night.
The anti- folks originally organized a protest in front of 12th Ward Ald. Julia Ramirez's office, 3868 S. Archer Ave. It was the most recent of a few weekly events they'd held so far.
Those who support the City's "Complete Streets" initiative, to make walking, biking, transit use, and driving on the corridor safer and more efficient, only organized their response a few days ago. (You can get up to speed about the project that's currently under construction via Streetsblog's coverage of a November 25 community meeting about current Archer and Kedzie Avenue work)
The two factions gathered across the street from each other holdings signs, chanting ("Two lanes not one!" versus "Safe streets now!") and in some cases blasting music. To the credit of both groups, things stayed peaceful and generally civil. (It's worth noting that there were several police officers hanging out on the sidelines.)
Now, I plan to give roughly equal airtime to the two sides in this report. Before I interviewed people, I explained which website I write for, and I don't want anyone to feel like they were ambushed. But I do want to point out some misleading statements that circulated around the opposition, and were picked up by mainstream news outlets that covered the gatherings.
I actually think WGN9 and Fox32 provided fairly balanced reporting on this issue (unlike recent coverage of the subject by a station I won't name here.) Sure, both TV stations referred to the driving enthusiasts as "residents" and the Safe Streets boosters as "cyclists," although most of the latter I buttonholed told me they live in or near Brighton Park. But both stations took the time to get quotes from both sides of the avenue, so kudos to them.
Still, there were some questionable recurring themes in these broadcasts. "Part of the headache for drivers is the reduction of Archer Avenue from four lanes to two, with concerns raised on Monday not just about congestion but also about the ease of access for emergency vehicles trying to pass," WGN stated.
"Some residents say the [bike lane] barriers have shrunk the road to one lane in each direction and they're feeling the impact: rush hour backups, drivers cutting through side streets, and big questions about whether ambulances and firetrucks can get even get through," Fox said, similarly.
One thing that's crucial to keep in mind is that the Archer and Kedzie projects are not finished yet. There are still construction barriers, and the travel lanes are currently narrower than they will be in the future. We've also had a historically snowy late fall (and, granted, the City has had trouble keeping up with protected bike lane plowing). That makes things more difficult on Archer right now than it will be after the work is finished, especially during the warmer months.
But to fact check, Archer is not being shrunk from four lanes for drivers to two, because motorists will actually get to use three lanes, not counting car parking lanes. The avenue is getting a "four-to-three conversion," a strategy endorsed by the AARP because it organizes traffic and helps make streets easier to cross on foot, especially for seniors.
In addition to the new street design traffic calming, which reduces the chance of car crashes, the third lane will be a turn lane, so motorists won't have to block others while waiting for a gap in traffic in order to hang a Louie. Moreover, at the busiest intersections, Archer will still have four lanes. Read more about what's being built here.
As fears of first responders being delayed, Chicago Fire Department spokespeople have stated multiple times that they haven't heard any reports of protected bike lanes causing problems for firetruck drivers. I also have video evidence (1:15 in the linked video) of an ambulance going unimpeded on the Clark PBL route. This all makes sense, because protected bike lanes aren't any more of a barrier to emergency vehicles than parked cars are.
So who's behind all these dubious statements about a war on cars and a first responder-pocalypse? On the Not In My Backyard side of the street, I was handed a flyer reading, "The City is removing one traffic lane in each direction on Archer to install protected bike lanes," among other debatable statements. A QR code on the handbill takes you to the GoFundMe page "Support Transparency and Safety on Archer Avenue" organized by Eva Villalobos.
Again, Villalobos exhorts citizens to fight "proposals to reduce lanes on Archer Avenue," counterintuitively arguing that the plan to reduce speeding and crashes is bad for "public safety" and "environmental" needs. She asks people to chip in to help her fight City Hall. (Today, in the interest of goodwill, I donated $5 to buy Villalobos a cup of coffee, making me the first contributor in the three days the fundraising page has been up.)
A Google search reveals that Villalobos unsuccessfully ran for the Chicago School Board last year. Her campaign received direct contributions from the political action committee for the self-described "centrist" lobbying group Urban Center, which promotes charter schools.
Multiple people on the opponent side of the Archer rally told me that that Urban Center helped broadcast the protest by sending out mass texts. That helps explain why the anti- crowd had at least two or three times as many attendees as the proponents, who were roughly two dozen strong. (Urban Center did not respond to a request for comment by press time.)
Some interesting info about Urban Center includes the fact it was founded by ex-Chicago Public Schools chief and perennial candidate Paul Vallas. He recently ran for mayor of our solidly "blue" city, although he once said he was "more of a Republican than a Democrat." Last year, Vallas voiced opposition to lowering the city's default speed limit from 30 to 25, a strategy that has lowered pedestrian deaths in peer cities like New York.
Also notable, the current Urban Center CEO is Juan Rangel, the former UNO charter schools CEO. He was fired after approving the payment of millions of dollars in state grant money to companies owned by a top Uno executive's brothers. According to the Sun-Times, in June 2016, Rangel agreed to pay $10,000 in fines to resolve securities fraud charges without admitting wrongdoing. So obviously the Archer Safe Streets opponents run with a colorful crowd!
But that's enough of my commentary for now. Let me share what the two sides of the roadway had to say.
Opponents
Daniel Patlan, quoted in a recent report by the news outlet I won't name here, was once again sporting his trademark Davy Crockett-style raccoon-skin cap, but this time he also had a bicycle with him. How did he think the rally was going? "I've been out here the last couple of weeks and it's at least five times as many people," he said. "I think the first time it was maybe five or six people. And now there are people on the other side. It's good, this is America. Everybody has the right to protest."
On Monday night when I interviewed Eva Villalobos, I was aware of her GoFundMe and previous school board candidacy. What brought her out that day? "Just being united with the community," she said. "There are a lot of people voicing their concerns about these bike lanes. It's a danger to our community, not only to our bikers, but also to our pedestrians and our drivers. It's congesting our very important artery."
To fact-check, in addition to bikeways with physical protection, the project includes ensuring almost all intersections have marked crosswalks and "Walk" signals; curb bump-outs to shorten crossing distances; and pedestrian islands,
By Monday, I had heard rumors that there was a political campaign element to the opponents' protest and. While I didn't know about her recent past, Villalobos was professionally professionally dressed, with a bit of a politician vibe, so I asked if she was running for anything.
"No I'm not," she said with a laugh. "So I think it's hilarious that they keep on saying that. I live here in Brighton Park. I've been here for over 15 years. And just because I'm right here helping elevate people's voices and actually listening, because it's an important thing to do, doesn't mean that I'm running for a political office."
Was she the person who organized the rally? "I'm not the person," she replied. "I'm here with a group of organizers. We're calling ourself Archer Guardians." They brought a table with hot coffee and cocoa for the crowd.
A man named Mario said he lives in Brighton Park. "Archer is very congested as it is, and they're taking up too much space for bike lanes," he argued. Mario added that he has several issues with Ald. Ramirez's policies besides this one, and instead supports Nolberto Casas for alder. Like Patlan, he said he approved of the democratic nature of the dual rallies. "Everyone should have the ability to express their opinion.
Jazmin Garcia also lives in Brighton Park. "I'm here just to bring awareness to the need to create transparency with the Brighton Park residents here," she said. "We felt that we didn't have much of a say-so when it came to adding the bike lanes on Archer. So we're just coming to give us that second chance to maybe revisit a better plan for not only cyclists but also for pedestrians and motorists.
The Chicago Department of Transportation first pitched the Kedzie and Archer redesigns at a public meeting in June 2024. The department presented revised plans in June 2025, which took into account previous community feedback. They said more than 500 people took part in that process.
On the other hand, Dixon Galvez-Searle, cofounder of The Southwest Collective, a local community group that helped gather input for the project, told me today that he feels Garcia's concerns aren't completely unwarranted. He argued that many residents felt blindsided when CDOT began tearing up the street, and more outreach in advance could have softened the blow.
Proponents
Gil Campos, 59, told me he has lived in Brighton Park his whole life. "I'm here to counter-protest," he said. "Actually, I think they're counter-protesting, because it's already a done deal. So I just wanted to come out and let the alder know that people in the community are for the bicycle lanes and pedestrian walks to make it safer for everybody."
Gerardo Zavala said he lives about two miles southwest from the rally site in the Archer Heights neighborhood. "Once I heard there was going to be a counter-protest, I felt like I had to come," he said. "I am for this project,. I heard about it through social media the past couple of years and I was pretty excited about it because I've just gotten into biking recently. What has kept me away from biking more has been the lack of protected bike lanes on the Southwest Side."
"I am supporting the safety of the bike riders on Archer," said Ernesto Valleja. "It's been really dangerous. People drive really fast here, and don't give a room for cyclists. Milwaukee Avenue on the North Side has had protected bike lanes for more than a decade and it's been working great for everybody. Right now on Archer, people are just mad because the construction has created traffic jams. But one the work is completed, everything will come back to some kind of normal. But any construction creates traffic, anywhere."
Sandra Cambrano lives in Gage Park. "I just want to make sure our highschoolers and older teenagers have a protected lane," she said. "Because they are the ones who are always on scooters, who are always on the sidewalk, so I want them to have their own lane. Because not only are they sometimes going on the streets with no protected lane, but they're also going fast on the sidewalk where there are a lot of elementary school kids. So this will make it safer for everyone."
So what will be the ultimate outcome of this contentious event? The future of Archer is unwritten...
Check out the WGN9 report here.
Check out the Fox 32 report here.
Materials about Archer Avenue can be found here.
Materials about Kedzie Avenue can be found here.
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