This is Grand: Scenes from Chicago’s newest weekly dueling rallies against and for a Complete Streets project

This features reporting by James Porter and was written up by John Greenfield. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are by James.

There’s an old saying, “You can’t dance at two weddings with one behind.” So it was a bit of a challenge for Streetsblog Chicago when the Grand Avenue Committee announced it will hold weekly protests against the Grand Avenue Complete Streets project in West Town on the North Side, every week on Monday between 4 and 6 p.m.

The tricky part is that Mondays during the evening rush are the exact same time as the very similar protests against the Archer Avenue traffic safety project in Brighton Park on the Southwest Side, which I’ve been trying to chronicle on a weekly basis. Read our post about last Monday’s Archer event here.

The first phase of the Grand Avenue initiative, between Chicago Avenue (which intersects with Grand at about 2900 W.) and Damen Avenue. It was completed in July 2024.

The plan for the upcoming second phase, on Grand’s more retail-dense Damen to Ogden Avenue, got a positive response from the many residents who attended two previous community meetings. But recently, some residents, merchants, and suburbanites have pushed back against the coming conversion of mixed-traffic lanes and car parking spots to make room for pedestrian infrastructure, bus boarding islands, and protected bike lanes. Earlier this month, the opponents announced the weekly demonstrations against the plan.

Back to the issue of trying to cover two weekly protests in different parts of town at the same time, Streetsblog Chicago is a shoestring operation. The goal for our total 2026 budget – which covers staff, freelancers, and the general expenses of keeping the site afloat – is less than the lowest Chicago aldermanic salary. (Please feel free to make a tax-deductible donation here if you haven’t already. Thanks!)

But fortunately, unlike some nonprofits, SBC is not simply a one-person show. Therefore, I was able to recruit longtime contributing reporter James Porter to cover the West Town opponents’ Grand standing, while I took aim at Archer.

Not long after the Grand Avenue opponents said they’d be demonstrating, supporters advertised a counter-protest, just like what’s been going on on Archer for 4.5 months.

I warned James that, due to previous Streetsblog criticism of their crusade, the Grand project opponents might decline to an in-person interview with a Streetsblog reporter. That was the case but, to the Grand Avenue Committee’s credit, they said they would respond to emailed questions.

Conspicuous by his absence among the demonstrators was suburban Hillside, IL, resident Roger Romanelli. He’s the executive director of the Fulton Market Association, the apparent leader of the Grand Avenue Committee, and a longtime car activist I’ve nicknamed “The Hillside Strangler of Sustainable Transportation Projects.”

Conspicuous by her presence was Julie Sawicki, a Brighton Park native who sells real estate in Bucktown, not far from the Grand project area. Interestingly, while she used be a regular, and hilariously loud, protester against the Archer initiative, in recent months she has stopped showing up to the Southwest Side demonstrations.

Just like in Brighton Park, the pro-Safe Streets folks who showed up on Monday to show support for the Grand Project outnumbered the naysayers, by roughly nine to six. And the advocates were willing to talk to this publication.

Here’s what some of the Complete Streets fans had to say to James.

Alicia Plotz

“We really have to stop prioritizing cars in our daily life. This city is for people, this city is for everyone, this city is for pedestrians and transit riders, this city’s not just for cars. [Points to an opponent.] This person has a sign that says “Say no to longer commutes.” Imagine being on the opposite side of safety because your commute might get longer. That’s not a reason to make drastic changes to a plan for safety upgrades that benefit everyone. I’m tired of prioritizing cars.

“It’s a little strange, though not unexpected, that we would also think about businesses over people, in the same way we prioritize cars. I also think it’s really disingenuous to suggest that getting rid of parking spots is what’s going to ruin the business. If the transit’s better, more people can get to their business. If there are bike lanes, more people can get to their business. It’s a made-up excuse because they don’t want to give up their cars.”

Northwest Neighborhood Alliance Administrator Sam Kovnar

“We were kind of talking internally about whether we want to protest, since at this point, the project is as good as done. There have been some talks with the aldermen [Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett III (27th), and Gilbert Villegas (36th)] and even the one who is not supportive of it [Burnett] said that there is nothing he can do to stop it. Without something drastic, it’ll probably go through. But, we decided it was still worth it to come out.”

Jake Hervers

“We want to lower the speeds of traffic here because people are going way too fast on Grand, their speeding is dangerous for pedestrians, and dangerous for bikes. We want it to be Safe Streets for all.”

Here’s a few more images from Monday’s dueling rallies on Grand.

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– John Greenfield, editor