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Eyes on the Street: Yes we can… get to the Obama Center without driving

Sustainable transportation scenes from today's Obama Presidential Center Grand Opening
Eyes on the Street: Yes we can… get to the Obama Center without driving
Watching the former Chicagoan's speech at today's opening ceremony from outside the gates on the Midway Plaissance. (I did eventually go inside.) Photo: John Greenfield
This post is sponsored by Ride Illinois.

I don’t think there’s much I can say about today’s Obama Presidential Center Grand Opening that hasn’t already run in the dailies, except that personally I viewed it as a great day for Chicago, and it made feel proud to be an American for the first time in a while. Also, it bears repeating that Windy City straphangers owe the former POTUS a “Thanks Obama!” for his role in securing funding for the CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization Program, before handing over the White House keys to the Creamsicle-colored criminal. Oh, and to my late-middle-aged ears, the joyful music at today’s public gala, from Springsteen to Stevie Wonder, was really great.

So I’m just going to present this post in gallery form. For the nitty gritty on how to access the Obama Center, which opens to the public tomorrow, via CTA, Metra, and Pace, check out this detailed guide from the Regional Transit Authority. And, of course, the cultural institution’s near-lakeside location makes it fairly easy to access by bicycle or e-scooter from the Lakefront Trail.

Here’s some of what I saw today. All images by yours truly.

Riding the Red Line south from Wilson Station with my trusty steed.
Arriving at the Red Line’s Garfield Station platform.
Arriving at Garfield around 12:30 p.m., I missed the window for shuttle bus service to the opening by about an hour. Image: CTA
Sign at Garfield Station for the inbound shuttle bus sign on the south side of Garfield Boulevard.
I put my bike on a 55 Garfield bus instead. Here’s my travelogue of riding this entire line on my 55th birthday last March.
Arriving at the Museum of Science and Industry, the end of the line.
Sign for the new “Route 10 Obama Presidential Center/Museum of Science & Industry Express” at the MSI.
Today the roads around the new building, whose design seems to reflect that of the nearby University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, were not open to the public.
“Inverted U” bike parking racks at the center, as seen through a fence.

The former POTUS gave plenty of shout outs to Chicago at the opening ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center. We will have more about the sustainable transportation scene here in the near future.

Streetsblog Chicago (@chi.streetsblog.org) 2026-06-18T20:11:11.005Z

Watching Obama’s speech from outside the gated Midway with a fellow bike rider.

The scene on the Midweay within the gates.
Corey Chatman, left, from Blackstone Bicycle Works, a non-profit bike shop and education center housed at the Experimental Station incubator in nearby Woodlawn, which was one of several community organizations with booths on the Midway.
Catching a shuttle bus back to the Green and Red Line stations after all the musicians finished a high-energy version of Wonder’s “Higher Ground,” include a rap that name-checked famous people at the event by Chicago’s Common.
Metra customer assistants were there to help at the MED Line’s 63rd Street Station.
View of the center from the Lakefront Trail.
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Photo of John Greenfield
In addition to editing Streetsblog Chicago, John has written about transportation and more for many other local and national publications. A Chicagoan since 1989, he enjoys exploring the city and region on foot, bike, bus, and train.

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