I've reported on most of the Monday evening dueling anti- and pro- Archer Avenue traffic safety project rallies over the past month or so. But I took a break from showing up on Monday, December 22, when the fourth of the competing demonstration sessions took place, in front of Ald. Julia Ramirez's 12th Ward office, 3868 S. Archer Ave.
As it happened, an NBC crew did show up that that day. However, as I discussed yesterday, the network totally got the story wrong. Not only did they only report on the half a dozen or so naysayers who were there around 4 p.m., before a much larger group of Safe Streets boosters showed up after business hours. But the newscaster also stated, "The project reduces this part of Archer from four lanes down to two" for protected bike lanes. It's actually a " a "four-to-three conversion," a style of street redesign endorsed by AARP because it benefits all road users, especially seniors.
NBC's slip-ups are especially inexcusable because emails provided to Streetsblog by Ramirez show that she explained these things to NBC Chicago Assignment Desk Editor LiLi Jarvenpa before the flawed report came out. I've asked network staffers to explain this oversight, and so far have gotten radio (television?) silence.
So this Monday, January 5, in order to help prevent this kind of monkey business from happening with another news outlet, I decided to to show up again myself. Last time I attended, I interviewed 20 Archer project proponents, 18 of whom live in Brighton Park or next-door communities. (The opponents generally refused to talk to me.) So this time I chose to give the interviewees a break by mostly doing this as visual "Eyes on the Street" report.
Ex-12th Ward alder George Cardenas posts a motorhead take on Archer
But here's one more interesting wrinkle I should mention before I switch over to image gallery mode. Ramirez's predecessor, former 12th Ward alder George Cardenas, now on the Cook County Board of Review, has gotten in on the debate. Streetsblog readers may remember him as the car-centric politician who cynically railed against lifesaving traffic cameras in his district in an effort to win votes. So when I heard he had posted about the the new Archer project on Facebook, my hopes weren't high.
Yep, Cardenas is opposed to the Archer traffic safery project. "Our infrastructure is being reshaped dramatically, and it will have consequences – especially for small businesses, working families, and neighborhood mobility," he wrote.
Correct, the Archer project will be beneficial in all those these departments. The street layout will calm traffic and reduce crashes, and new left-turn lanes will make it safer and easier for drivers to make a move without obstructing other motorists. Bus boarding islands will let operators pick up customers without having to pull to and from the curb, shortening transit trips. And more Walk signals, marked crosswalks, pedestrian islands, and sidewalk extensions will facilitate crossing streets.
That's crucial, because Archer currently has a speeding and crash epidemic. At a November community meeting, the Chicago Department of Transportation reported that, in comparison to other community areas, Brighton Park has over twice the rate of pedestrian deaths. And Archer on the Southwest Side has seen at least five pedestrian and bike fatalities since 2020, mostly senior citizens.
Recent pedestrian and bike fatality and injury cases on Archer on the Southwest Side, from left to right: Zofia Chruszcz, 72, and Ryszard Stebnicki, 75 killed while walking at McVicker Avenue; pedestrians Maria Ochoa, 88, killed, and a woman, 73, injured, at Laramie Avenue; Jan Kopec, 83 killed while biking at Kostner Avenue; and a pedestrian killed at Pershing Road. Image: John Greenfield via Google Maps
So by reducing crashes, and making Archer safer and more efficient for all road users, the Brighton Park street redesign make the neighborhood more vibrant. That will help out, in Cardenas' words, "small businesses, working families, and neighborhood mobility."
We've already seen the benefits of four-to-three conversions in other parts of Chicago. According to CDOT, in the first full year after protected lanes were installed on Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square using that layout, traffic crashes were reduce by half, and there were no pedestrian collisions.
"Recently, I took a trip to Madrid, one of the most progressive cities in Europe," Cardenas added. "What struck me immediately was this: there are no widespread protected bike lanes like the ones we’re seeing forced onto major streets in Chicago."
Next time Cardenas visits Spain, he should check out Seville, which has more people than Boston. In just a few years Seville built a robust network of protected bike lanes. That transformed it from a city with almost no bike riders to a place where one in ten trips is made by bicycle, about five times Chicago's rate. Residents have reaped the health, environmental, and economic benefits of less driving.
All right, enough about Cardenas for now. Here's the gallery of images from last night. All images are by John Greenfield.
Opponents of the Archer traffic safety project
Proponents of the Archer redesign
Here are some notable signs from the Safe Streets boosters.
This video gives you a sense of how many Archer project opponents and supporters were there around 6 p.m. yesterday.
Video below: Supporters chant "What do we want?" "Safe streets!" "When do we want it?" "Now!"
Watch the NBC Chicago report here.
Read yesterday's post questioning why NBC didn't use the information Rodriguez provided.
Read CDOT's FAQ about the Archer / Kedzie traffic safety projects here.
Materials about Archer Avenue can be found here.
Materials about Kedzie Avenue can be found here.
Read Streetsblog Chicago's writeup of Round 1 here.
Check out our article about Round 2 here.
Read SBC's coverage of Round 3 here.
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– John Greenfield, editor
