Take a virtual ride on the newly 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 have been controversial.
The Lincoln Avenue traffic safety project between Berwyn and Berwyn 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 Daniel La Spata 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 arts 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 Vasquez in a statement.
Vasquez said 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,” 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 Bugbear Bikes, which specializes in cargo cycles; some new vintage shops; 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 backlash to recent complete streets projects, some of it organized opposition with political ulterior motives. (The flier below is particularly silly, because 27th Ward aldermanic candidate Dan Olas 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.”
Take a virtual spin on the new bikeway below, and the check out some still images of people using it in the galley that follows. All images by yours truly.
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