Ald. Sigcho-Lopez: Anti-Archer protest promoter Juan Rangel is “pitting the needs of small businesses against the safety of people on foot and bikes.”

Unsurprisingly, Streetsblog Chicago’s reporting on the “centrist to conservative” politics behind the weekly protests against the Archer Avenue traffic safety project in Brighton Park has gotten some positive feedback from progressive lawmakers.

For example, last week I discussed how Juan Rangel, the Trump-friendly CEO of Urban Center, recently admitted that long before he started promoting the demonstrations in front of Ald. Julia Ramirez’s (12th) office, he had asked Claudia Zuno to run against Ramirez.

Claudia Zuno protesting at the February 9 demonstration near Ald. Ramirez’s office. A week she announced her candidacy with a promise to “remove obstructive bike lanes.” Photo: John Greenfield

Not long ago, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), one of Ramirez’s colleagues in City Council’s Progressive Reform Caucus, reached out to thank Streetsblog for our reporting on the issue, and said he’d be interesting in talking further about Complete Streets matters. A representative of near Southwest Side neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village, he’s currently running for U.S. Congress in Illinois’ 4th District.

In our conversation today, he didn’t pull any punches when talking about the political tactics of Juan Rangel and his allies. Sigcho-Lopez also briefly discussed some Safe Streets initiatives in the 25th Ward.

“Look at the actors involved with the pushback against Complete Streets on social media and in these protests,” Sigcho-Lopez said on the phone. “They’re pitting the needs of small businesses against the safety of people on foot and bikes.”

He noted that the City’s recent study on the economic effects of local bikeways found that economic activity on Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square actually increased after the installation of protected bike lanes, which involved converting parking spaces. Therefore, he argued, such Safe Street initiatives are not a zero-sum game.

A protected bike lane on Milwaukee east of California Avenue in Logan Square. Photo: John Greenfield

“Clearly, some people are using false narratives when talking about neighborhoods like Brighton Park that have seen disinvestment,” Ald. Sigcho-Lopez said. “It’s disingenuous for Juan Rangel to talk about impacts on small business. He was sanctioned by Securities Exchange Commission [fined $10,000] because of the way he ran the UNO Charter School Network. Even now, Acero Schools (UNO’s successor) almost closed down because of mismanagement – it was only saved by advocacy from parents and teachers. Rangel has been guilty of defrauding children’s education, so his currently organization Urban Center has no credibility.”

Sigcho-Lopez noted that traffic safety is a particularly urgent issue on the Southwest Side. He mentioned the recent killing of food delivery cyclist Damian Gomez, 18, by a speeding hit-and-run SUV driver on April 5 at 63rd Street and Kedzie Avenue in Chicago Lawn, a tragedy that traffic calming might have helped prevent. “That was a young man who was trying to help his family,” he said.

“We need to have infrastructure to protect people, and we need to help local business,” the alder added. “We can do both.” He noted that, while merchants on Archer have blamed the safety project for falling sales (and a massive utility project just southwest of the 12th Ward office has, in fact, impacted traffic flow), ICE crackdowns have also been a huge factor in potential customers staying home. One of the loudest Archer Project opponents, nearby Council member Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), has also been the Chicago City Council’s most vocal defender of Trump’s immigration policies.

“This is the style of Juan Rangel and his cronies, to use any technique available to promote their agenda,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “Juan is trying to target elected officials like Julia Ramirez who don’t follow his crooked agenda.”

The 25th Ward alder acknowledged that it’s necessary for the City to do a better job of involving merchants in the planning process for Complete Street projects. “It could be an opportunity to bring residents and small business together for a common good,” he said. “But issues should be addressed by bringing people together, not pushing them apart.”

Likewise, Sigcho-Lopez said there needs to be more collaboration between the Chicago and Illinois transportation departments to improve safety on major streets in his district like Cermak Road and Ashland Avenue. Tragically, this issue was highlighted by two recent pedestrian deaths.

In May 2025, a turning trucker failed to yield while turning from Ashland at Cermak and Blue Island avenues, killing a 44-year-old man on foot. That July, a hit-and-run Jeep driver fatally struck Marcela Herrera, 22, and seriously injured her fiancé, as they tried to cross Ashland at Cullerton Street.

“We conducted a traffic study, working with local schools and neighbors,” the alder said. He added that a public meeting on ward traffic safety will be announced in the near future.

Other walk/bike/transit projects happening in Sigcho-Lopez district include a new protected bike lanes segment on 16th Street between Blue Island Avenue and Halsted Street. It can be used as an alternative to cycling on 18th Street, a corridor with dense retail and heavy car traffic.

And the long-awaited Paseo rails-to-trails initiative recently made some progress, as the City finalized the purchase of the existing rail corridor, and is holding open houses with residents. The alder says is his goal is to combine these projects with new affordable housing to help prevent housing displacement due to increased property values.

Returning to the subject of the organized opposition to Complete Streets projects, Sigcho-Lopez argued, “When people who are less interested in solving problems than lining their own pockets interfere, it stops citizens from coming together to find solutions.”

“Juan Rangel used to run ads promoting his charter schools, while advocating for closing CPS schools in Black and Brown neighborhoods under the Rahm Emanuel administration,” the alder added. “He is one of the unethical, unprincipled, and corrupt individuals we have had to deal with on a regular basis.”

“Just as Emanuel said, ‘You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,’ they’re weaponizing crises like the ICE enforcement for their own benefit,” Sigcho-Lopez concluded. “Juan Rangel and company do not represent the public good. They represent their own wallets.”

Read last Thursday’s SBC article about politics behind the Archer protests here.

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