CMAP will update DuSable Lake Shore Drive language after more than 1,800 comments

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning said at a public hearing last Thursday, August 6, that it will update its description of the North DuSable Lake Shore Drive project after over 1,800 residents pointed out that the draft 2026 Regional Transportation Plan still referred to a preferred alternative that is no longer considered final.

CMAP staff acknowledged that the description in Appendix E no longer reflected the project’s current status. Staff said it would be revised to match the language in the plan’s priority investment chapter, while the Illinois and Chicago transportation departments continue studying the corridor and reconsidering alternatives.

The announcement addressed one of the central requests made during the RTP’s public comment period. In 2024, IDOT and CDOT presented a recommended alternative that largely maintained the Drive’s eight-lane configuration and identified it as the “preferred alternative.” More recently, the agencies updated the project website to state that no preferred alternative has been finalized.

There was a full room of in-person attendees, and more than 80 participants logged into Zoom, for the August 6 hearing, held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The turnout prompted staff to reduce each speaker’s allotted time from three minutes to two.

Of the 44 public commenters, 40 addressed North DuSable Lake Shore Drive directly or expressed support for earlier comments calling for the highway to be reconsidered. No speaker in the hearing clearly endorsed the agencies’ 2024 preferred alternative.

Many speakers called for continuous transit priority, lower traffic speeds, improved walking and biking access, and/or removal of some or all of the highway. Others asked CMAP and the project agencies to use a more deliberative public process before selecting another design.

Several commenters welcomed the promised wording change but argued that removing the “preferred alternative” label would not be enough. One speaker urged CMAP to ensure that reconstructing the existing Drive does not become the default and called for reducing its size, speed and traffic volume while prioritizing transit.

CMAP did not accept a separate request to reclassify the project as “visionary.” Staff said that designation is generally used for concepts without an implementing agency or for ideas an agency is not yet ready to pursue. Because IDOT and CDOT remain responsible for the project, CMAP will keep it on the fiscally constrained regional capital projects list, preserving its eligibility to compete for federal funding.

CMAP staff said comments from the hearing will be incorporated into the planning process before the RTP goes to the agency’s board and MPO Policy Committee for expected consideration and adoption in October.

Here are some images from the hearing.

Sedona Jolly speaks about the climate impacts of highway infrastructure and urges planners to consider how decisions about North DuSable Lake Shore Drive will shape the lakefront for future generations. Photo: Ellen Steinke

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