Archer edits: Ald. Julia Ramirez signs off on reasonable edits to traffic safety plan, says they’re not a win for Archer Guardians NIMBYs like Claudia Zuno
If you’ve been following the weekly opera on Archer Avenue – anti-Complete Streets portesters backed by right-leaning politicians and lobbyists, countered by a generally larger group of local walk/bike/transit advocates – the following news shouldn’t be a big surprise.
It’s been troubling to see Trump-friendly politicians and lobbyists like Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) and Urban Center CEO Juan Rangel, and their allies such as City Council hopeful Claudia Zuno, making an election wedge issue out of potentially lifesaving infrastructure.
That’s been especially true this month in the wake of two nearby tragedies involving vulnerable road users. On April 5, a speeding hit-and-run SUV driver ran a red and killed delivery cyclist Adrian Gomez, 18, at 63rd Street and Kedzie Avenue in West Lawn. And on April 20, a semi driver fatally struck Autumn Perez, 29, at 63rd and Western in Chicago Lawn, only a mile east of the Gomez crash site. Both locations are directly south of the Archer project area.
It’s wrong for the right-leaning political class to try to exploit Brighton Park residents’ and merchants’ discontent with the Archer initiative in an effort to win votes. But that doesn’t mean that local frustration is completely unwarranted.
After all, this construction project, along with a massive utility project, have dragged since last fall, with the Complete Streets work basically coming to a halt during the colder months. There has been increased traffic congestion, largely due to the gas and water main project narrowing the avenue down to two lanes with no turn lanes or parking for several blocks.
In addition, the Archer project involves the conversion of some curbside car parking spaces to make room for new turn lanes, pedestrian infrastructure, bus boarding islands, and protected bike lanes. In fairness, that requires some adjustments by business owners and their customers who drive, so it’s to be expected that some people aren’t happy about that change.
In an effort to reassure these stakeholders, the Chicago Department of Transportation and 12th Ward Ald. Julia Ramirez today announced that they’ve decided to alter the street layout on Archer to create 17 new parking spots. The work is slated to start at the end of the month. The bad news is that will involve shortening or removing some left turn lanes. The good news is that none of the concrete bike lane protection will be removed. So this seems like a reasonable compromise.
But aren’t Ramirez’s political opponents, especially her aldermanic rival Claudia Zona going to make hay out of this development? They could say, “Look what we made the alder do. It really paid off for us to do a protest every week.”
“No, I don’t think they can really get wins on any of this,” Ramirez responded. “You know, this isn’t just about parking. This is really about better traffic flow,and eliminating further buildup on our main intersections, which I don’t think that [the opponents] care about, to be frank.”
Zuno’s website states that one her top priorities is to “remove obstructive bike lanes and concrete barriers on Kedzie and Archer.” And she told Block Club Chicago, “When I become your 12th Ward alderwoman, the first thing I’ll do is remove these concrete barriers.”
“And that’s why I wanted to speak to my allies [including staff from Southwest Collective, and co-organizers of the weekly pro-safe streets rallies Gil Campos and Alfredo Valladares Jr.] about these improvements,” Ramirez added. “I don’t think [my opponents] have advocated for any of this, outside of just generally wanting to more parking.”
“So I’ll say that much,” Ramirez concluded. “But honestly, I didn’t do this at all because of [my opponents’] protests. I think their protests are bunk.”
The planned changes to the Archer project, according to The City.
All of the following statements and images were provided by CDOT and the 12th Ward.
Archer Corridor Revision 2026:
- Archer at 38th – Access to 38th Street from Archer will be opened back up to aid truck traffic and improve traffic operations, allowing direct access to 38th Street instead of requiring trucks to make a sharper turn at Campbell or Rockwell.
- Archer at Pershing/Rockwell – A second southbound travel lane approaching the Pershing/Rockwell intersection will be added to improve traffic flow and increase the number of vehicles that can make it through the intersection with each green cycle. This change will also allow southbound vehicles to bypass cars that are stopped to turn left into the McDonald’s parking lot. On-street parking directly adjacent to McDonald’s on the south side of the street will be removed to accommodate this change.
- Archer between 43rd and Sacramento – Eight additional parking spaces will be added to the north side of Archer just north of Whipple to support business access. The new left turn lane onto Whipple will be removed to accommodate this change and the new pedestrian refuge island will be shifted south to the Albany crosswalk. The Albany refuge island will be constructed in temporary materials this year and will be finalized in concrete next year.
- Whipple between 43rd and Archer – Traffic flow on Whipple between 43rd and Archer will be reversed from one-way southbound to one-way northbound. This will eliminate the need for left-turns and a left-turn-lane from Archer onto Whipple for improved pedestrian access. Left turns are a major source of pedestrian crashes. Access to this block of Whipple will be available via 43rd Street.
- Archer between Kedzie and 43rd – Four new parking spaces will be added to the north side of Archer near the Brighton Park Library to improve access to the library and adjacent businesses. The newly added left-turn-lane onto Troy will be shortened to accommodate this change. The high volume of left turns at Troy necessitates the left-turn-lane remain so turning vehicles do not block southbound traffic on Archer. Reversing the direction of Troy (similar to what is proposed at Whipple) would push additional traffic to the Kedzie intersection.
- Archer at Christiana – The bus stop at Christiana was recently converted to five parking spaces adjacent to Michael’s Sports Lounge. There is another northbound bus stop the next block up.
- Archer under Western Ave Viaduct – Additionally, CDOT will resurface the pavement directly under the rail viaduct just south of Western.
More info about the months-long Archer Avenue dueling protest saga
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 of the dueling Archer rallies, 12/8/25, here.
Check out our article about Round 2, 12/15/25, here.
Read SBC’s coverage of Round 3, 12/22/25, here.
Read our article about Round 4, 12/29/25 here.
Check our post about Round 5, 1/5/26 here.
Take a look at our assessment of Round 6, 1/12/26, here.
Read SBC’s post about Round 7, 1/19/26, here.
Take a gander at our article about Round 8, 1/26/26, here.
Check out our article that mentions Round 10, 2/9/26, here.
Peruse out writeup of Round 11, 2/16/26, here.
Read our article about Round 12, 2/23/26, here.
Take a look at our post about Round 13, 3/2/26, here.
View a couple of images from Round 16, 3/23/26 on Bluesky and Twitter.
Take a look at our post about Round 17, 3/30/26, here.
Check out a quick report on Round 19, 4/13/26, from the Archer project advocates here.
Take a gander at our story about Round 20, 4/20/26, here.
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– John Greenfield, editor
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