Steven Vance

An Illinois Department of Transportation employee driving a Ford pickup truck struck a pregnant Divvy rider at around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, September 3, at the intersection of Augusta Boulevard and Ashland Avenue. The 34-year-old victim, who was riding from East Village to work on Michigan Avenue, sustained injuries to her face and body; her pregnancy seems unaffected.

Last Wednesday, the City Council zoning committee passed Mayor Emanuel's proposed ordinance allowing more walkable, less car-oriented development near train stations. But before the vote, the legislation was watered down with an amendment that makes it harder to construct buildings with lower volumes of car parking.

Three years after the Chicago Department of Transportation presented renderings and details about a proposal to narrow Lawrence Avenue between Clark Street and Western Avenue in Lincoln Square, construction began in June despite late opposition from business owners.

The Metropolitan Planning Council, a non-profit promoting economic development strategies for Chicagoland, has come out strongly against the Illiana Expressway, a 47-mile highway the Illinois Department of Transportation has proposed for the rural communities of southern Will County and northwestern Indiana. MPC released a statement yesterday highlighting numerous shortcomings in IDOT's proposal, including vague financing plans and the overall failure to address the region's transportation needs.

To use Divvy you must have a debit or credit card. Currently, there's no way around that, so even though an annual Divvy pass is a bargain at $75, the system is unavailable for many Chicagoans. A significant share of city households -- 12.7 percent -- don't have bank accounts, according to graduate research by Michael Carney at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs. That translates to at least 135,000 people and perhaps more than twice that number, Carney's demographic research indicates.

Berteau Avenue from Lincoln Avenue to Clark Street is en route to becoming Chicago's first neighborhood greenway. The project resembles a "bike boulevard," allowing two-way bike traffic where car traffic is one-way only and adding traffic calming elements like curb extensions at intersections. Construction started in late August, a couple of months later than projected.

An inviting new plaza complete with benches opened by the renovated CTA Loyola Red Line station house this Tuesday. The $20 million cost was covered by Loyola University -- whose classes started Monday -- and federal grants.

Alternate headline: "Bus Stop Benches Removed to Prevent Passengers From Being Comfortable While Waiting for the Bus."

Last Friday Judge Kathleen Kennedy heard arguments from plaintiffs Jeannine Cordero and David Kolin, representing the 3565 N Pine Grove condo association, about receiving an injunction to prevent the installation of a Divvy bike-share station on the roadway adjacent to their building. They contended that the station would devalue their property and bring litter, and that strangers would follow children who live in the building.