Streetsblog Chicago

Due to editor-in-chief John Greenfield being seriously injured on a bike trip, this was a challenging spring. But thanks to funders and readers, the site is once again rolling.

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Tragically, fitness instructor Ron Mendoza, 43, died two days after being hospitalized for injuries from a collision on his bike with a car driver.

On Thursday, disadvantaged business enterprises attended a meeting hosted by the Chicago Transit Authority to learn more about the Red Line Extension and the subcontracting opportunities available. The event took place at the CTA’s West Loop headquarters.

This week’s Chicago Reader "First Tuesdays with Maya [Dukmasova] & Ben [Joravsky]" at Nighthawk on the topic of “Public Transit Crisis” lived up to the theme. The conversation with state representative Kam Buckner and activist (and former Streetsblog reporter) Lynda Lopez touched on familiar CTA woes: the ongoing triple-whammy of sub-par cleanliness, safety, and reliability; the predicted $730 million Chicagoland transit system budget shortfall by 2026; and a punishing funding structure that keeps the system hobbled. But it was the audience Q & A where on-the-ground frustrations of riders—and CTA workers in particular—gave a pulse to the urgency of the crisis at hand.

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Monday I wrote about the Chicago Transportation Authority hosting a meeting tomorrow morning to introduce disadvantaged business enterprises and small businesses to the three CTA-identified bidders for the Far South Side's Red Line Extension Project as potential subcontractors. After I asked a colleague to review the article before publication, he had some interesting questions.

Recently the Chicago Department of Transportation, with community input from local residents, has installed bike lanes on many Northwest Side streets. One of them was Wrightwood Avenue (2600 W.), a popular residential east-west cycling route.

Prospects are looking very good for the proposed $3.6 CTA Red Line Extension proposal on Chicago's Far South Side. Last December the Chicago City Council approved the controversial transit tax-increment financing district for the project, which is projected to raise $959 million for the extension. In March, President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 discretionary funding budget earmarked another $350 million for the project.