Since early December there have been seven, count 'em, seven competing rallies against and for the Archer Avenue traffic safety project. They're held on Mondays from 4-6 p.m. in front of 12th Ward Ald. Julia Ramirez's office, 3868 S. Archer Ave in Brighton Park.
Almost all of the supporters who've shown up told me they live in the neighborhood – some are lifelong residents – or else next-door communities like Gage Park, just south. They're in the favor of the Chicago Department of Transportation's in-progress initiative to convert the avenue from a four-lane "stroad" into a three-lane street with turn lanes.
That will calm traffic and help prevent deadly crashes caused by drivers in a rush to make left turns. Tragically, less than two years ago in February 2024, around 4 p.m., the speeding driver of a large vehicle fatally struck a person at the Pershing Road / Rockwell Avenue / Archer intersection, adjacent to the the rally location.
Pedestrian and bike fatality and injury cases on Archer on the Southwest Side since 2020, from left to right. Pedestrians Zofia Chruszcz, 72, and Ryszard Stebnicki, 75 were killed while walking at McVicker Avenue. Maria Ochoa, 88, was killed, and a woman, 73, was injured, while walking at Laramie Avenue. Jan Kopec, 83, was killed while biking at Kostner Avenue. And a pedestrian was killed at Pershing Road. Image: John Greenfield via Google Maps
The under-construction "four-to-three conversion," an example of an AARP-endorsed street redesign strategy, is making room for sidewalk extensions to shorten crossing distances, pedestrian islands, bus boarding islands, and protected bike lanes. The project will also install more marked crosswalks and Walk signals. So it will make the corridor safer and more efficient for all road users.
The weekly opposition rallies have been co-organized by 2024 Chicago School Board candidate Eva Villalobos. Her campaign was funded by the Paul Vallas-founded "centrist" pro-charter school lobbying group Urban Center. The group promoted at least one rally with mass texts and press releases, and Archer protesters have carried signs decrying Ald. Ramirez, a progressive.
Some of the anti-Archer project folks are clearly there to use the issue as a hook for the next aldermanic election. But in fairness, some of them seem genuinely concerned that the new street layout will make it a little more difficult to drive dangerously fast. They're also upset that some curbside car parking will be converted, although Archer has plenty of parking lots.
The pro-Safe Street folks have outnumbered the naysayers at most of these rallies. But after braving single-digit temperatures on foot last week while their counterparts did a traffic-clogging "car caravan" around the block, the Archer boosters decided to take a well-earned week off.
"Because of the extreme cold that we are having and might continue to endure for the next few days we will be calling at least this week our bye-week," posted Alfredo Valladares Jr. on the Gage Park Cyclists Facebook page. "We've shown the angry people and their handlers that we have a genuine interest in safety in Brighton Park as well as EVERYWHERE in the city. We have been on Archer & Rockwell representing the cyclist community for the last 7 weeks. This week, the 8th week will be OUR week. We will take a break, not just because we want to, but because of the extreme weather we are facing."
"As always as long as weather permits we will be out ANY DAY that there are groups protesting the construction of NEW safety infrastructure in Brighton Park," he added... "It's important that we all show up and demand an EQUITABLE commute for EVERYONE!!! Stay Warm and we will see you NEXT Monday Feb 2nd."
One person who did show up to yesterday's rally on two wheels was yours truly. After (mostly) cocooning in Uptown during the snowy weekend, I decided to visit another oart of the city and enjoy the sunshine in bracing temperatures. I did the ten-mile trip by bike + 'L' train.
I also attended yesterday because the last two times I didn't cover the rallies, both NBC and ABC ran potboiler segments about a "protest over bike lanes" and "a protest over Archer Ave. bike lane," respectively. What they failed to mention was that at least as many project proponents showed up on those both those days.
One of the boosters, Gil Campos, even filmed himself with the ABC cameraperson after that staffer decline to shoot footage of the supporters. And, since Ramirez shared emails that proved she informed the networks that supporters had being showing up,. So the omissions seem to be conscious choices by the networks, possibly worried about car ad revenue. Neither station has answered Streetsblog's questions about why they wouldn't even mention, let alone talk to, locals who think this is a worthwhile project.
The email exchange between NBC Assignment Desk Editor LiLi Jarvenpa and Ald. Ramirez. The alder mentioned, "this project has a group that have been present on Mondays to show their support towards the project."
As such, I wanted to be around yesterday in case another TV crew showed up. If they tried to pull similar journalistic hanky panky, I'd be able to bear witness firsthand. But as far as I know, no stations made an appearance yesterday.
When I got to Ramirez's office, four of the opposition organizers were hanging out, mostly inside their cars to keep warm. People like me standing out on the street had their eardrums abused by pre-taped messages blasting out of a speaker on one of the vehicles. "How many lanes do you want? Two lanes!" said a recording of opponent Maria "The Megaphone Lady" Martinez. "What's the lane for? Emergencies! Who should decide? The residents!" Each refrain was played twice. To be clear, CDOT's lane conversions for traffic safety projects elsewhere haven't delayed first responders, and more than 500 area residents gave feedback on this project.
I recommend wearing earplugs before watching this video.
I've covered so many of these rallies, I'm on friendly terms with some of the anti-Archer project folks. One of them is Richard Zupkus, an energetic young man who's always happy to bend my ear with a cheerful explanation of why he opposes the redesign. To his credit, he wasn't sheltering in a metal box, but was instead exuberantly banging a snare drum while showing a motorists a "2 Lanes Not 1" sign.
In contrast, Dr. Kim Tee mostly kept cozy in his car. Maybe that's why he posted the following on the public Archer Guardians of Brighton Park discussion group on Facebook. (The Streetsblog Chicago account appears to have been blocked from the site today, which is odd because we don't block anyone unless they've been particularly offensive or obnoxious, and I don't think we crossed that line.)
If the good doctor hadn't spent most his time at the protest inside a Toyota (did you ever notice that phrase is a palindrome?) he might have a noticed that at least a few bike riders were there while I was present. Besides me and the person riding by in the lead photo of this article, here's a few more examples.
So even though the Archer traffic safety project evangelists were taking a break on Monday, some everyday bicyle riders weren't. Just think how much more bike and e-scooter traffic this corridor will have after the protected lanes are fully constructed and painted, and the temperature is somewhat warmer than 7F!
Watch the NBC Chicago report here.
Read Streetsblog's response to the NBC segment here.
Watch the ABC Chicago report here.
Read SBC's response to the ABC clip here.
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.
Check our post about Round 5 here.
Take a look at our assessment of Round 6 here.
Read SBC's post about Round 7 here.
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– John Greenfield, editor
