Take a virtual ride on the previously controversial, recently completed Lincoln Avenue protected bike lanes in Lincoln Square

From Archer Avenue in Brighton Park, to Grand Avenue in West Town, Complete Streets projects that involve converting car parking spaces to make room for safer, more efficient conditions for walking, biking, riding buses, and driving, faced a backlash.

The Lincoln Avenue traffic safety project between Berwyn and Ainslie avenues in Lincoln Square has been no exception. In September 2024, some local merchants insisted that the street remix was going to make them close their doors. Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Chair Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) pushed back at that notion.

While the Archer project is still under construction, and work hasn’t even started on Grand yet, last Saturday, June 27, the Chicago Department of Transportation and local Ald. Andre Vasquez put a bow on the Lincoln Avenue redesign, plus the new Ainslie Arts Plaza. The ribbon-cutting was followed by a celebration with live music, face painting, chalk art, and vendors selling handcrafts.

Multiple drivers crashed into previous incarnations of the plaza, but the new concrete-reenforced version won’t be so vulnerable to reckless motorists. “From my first moments as alderperson of the 40th Ward, I saw an opportunity to reclaim a McDonald’s parking lot as a public space and turn it into something creative, community centered, and energetic,” said Ald. Vasquez in a statement.

Vasquez added that the entire plaza and streetscape project involved $14.1 million from the Lincoln Avenue tax-increment financing district and multiple community feedback hearings. The street rehab includes protected bike lanes, crosswalk upgrades, and wider sidewalks, with parking conversions on one side of the street to free up right-of-way for these improvements.

At the celebration, I asked the alderman how the push-back over that change has played out. “What we’ve seen is that the sky doesn’t fall, and ultimately we’ve actually seen more businesses coming into the area since we’ve created the expanded sidewalks, plus the bike infrastructure and the plaza,” he responded. “It’s all been moving in the direction that we expected. “[Former Edgewater alderman] Harry Osterman once gave me some advice that I always keep, that everyone wants progress, but not everyone wants change. Sometimes the process itself is something that people feel challenged by. But when you see the end product and you see what comes of it, I think people understand the vision.”

Vasquez mentioned new enterprises Bugbear Bikes, which specializes in cargo cycles; some new vintage shops; and The Matcha Theory cafe; plus some upcoming apartments and live-work spaces. “So we’ve been doing our best to create the ecosystem that supports that kind of activity and economic growth.”

I asked recently appointed CDOT Commissioner William Cheaks about the negative reaction to recent complete streets projects, some of it organized opposition with ulterior political motives. The flier below from 27th Ward aldermanic candidate Dan Olas is particularly silly, because calls the Grand project “[Incumbent Alderman] Walter Burnett III’s Bad Plan,” although Burnett tried to withdraw his ward’s support for the initiative, but eventually relented.

“Regardless of the candidate, CDOT is interested in delivering projects that provide safety for everyone that uses the public way, be it pedestrians, bicyclists, or drivers,” Commissioner Cheaks responded. “So they may want to use it for political issues, but we will always try to make it a safe project for everyone.”

During my own tour of the new bikeway, I stopped by Bugbear Bikes, which specializes in family-friendly cycles well-suited for hauling children, groceries, and more. Some of their models cost a few thousand dollars, which may cause sticker shock for the average Chicagoan. But when you consider that these vehicles can replace most trips with cars that may cost ten times as much, and you won’t have to buy gasoline, cargo cycles are a very wise investment.

I asked shop owner Zak Patterson for his take on the “parking space versus people space” debates that have been an issue with multiple local Complete Streets projects. “The issue with the business owners actually relates to the brand of my store,” he said. “A bugbear is a boogeyman. It’s the way that business owners, and a lot of articles in the media, have criticized bike infrastructure as being negative for their business in terms of losing parking. There are some examples of businesses that closed down on Lincoln in the last couple of years, blaming bike lane construction.”

“The ice cream shop,” I interjected.

In the September 2024 Block Club Chicago article about the Lincoln Avenue project, Lincoln Ice Cream Company co-owner Edmundo Mozas told the news outlet, “This is going to ruin our business,” referring to the conversion of parking spots on his side of the street. The shop had already announced it was closing, so it’s not clear that parking issues were the sole reason for that decision.

“So it’s because of that, there’s this conception of bikes as the boogeyman for business, and it couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Patterson continued. “When I show up with my kids on the bike, if I want to go get an ice cream or something, I don’t have to look for parking. I don’t have to sit in the car and eat the ice cream. I can park right in front of the business, get the ice cream, with no friction there at all. If we want to stop somewhere on the way home, there are no issues with finding a parking spot. And so I hope for that reason, in the long run, we’ll all find that Complete Streets projects with protected bike lanes are going to be a major lift for businesses in Chicago.”

Take a virtual spin on the new bikeway below, and the check out some photos of people using it in the galley that follows. All images are by yours truly.

And just for fun, here’s Clamor & Lace Noise Brigade, a “Chicago glam marching band composed solely of people of marginalized genders,” performing “We Got the Beat” by The Go-Gos at the Ainslie Arts Plaza celebration.

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