47th Ward

There was backlash when CDOT proposed parking conversions for protected lanes on Clark in Uptown. But the end product offers reason for optimism in Brighton Park.

In a recent post, SBC contributor Richard Day argued that it's time to move past rejoicing in the passage of the robust transit reform and funding bill that will save local bus and train service, and start getting to work on optimizing the win. "This is the last, best chance we have to deliver the sort of transformative transit system the region deserves," he noted. "We can’t afford to waste it."

Judging from expensive-looking billboards prominently placed on Broadway in Uptown and Edgewater, you might assume these neighborhoods are dead-set against Broadway Upzoning.

The program, sponsored by Ald. Matt Martin (47th), and researched by Police District Council members, could start as early as this winter.

There's a thunderstorm in Chicago as I type this, but this Sunday, June 22, will be sunny and clear, great conditions for turning parking space into people space. That's what happening at the first of three monthly Berenice Bash pop-up events this summer, taking place from noon to 4 p.m.at a City-owned parking lot at the northwest corner of Berenice (3830 N.) and Lincoln avenues in North Center.

Yesterday, Block Club Chicago's Alex V. Hernandez reported that the 4700 block Lincoln Avenue in the Lincoln Square community would be opened for car-free use starting Monday, for the next week. That's being done to accommodate construction work on Leland Avenue between Western Avenue and Lincoln, including a new plaza next to the Western Brown Line station and raised bike lanes. The latter will complete the long-awaited Leland Neighborhood Greenway, a lower-stress, mostly side-street bike route connecting the North Shore Channel Trail and the Lakefront Trail.

It's that time of year again. On Friday, the 47th Ward, the North Side district represented by Ald. Matt Martin, launched its annual participatory budgeting voting process. PB elections let residents help determine how to spend a ward's $1.5 million a year in discretionary "menu" money for infrastructure projects.

On Sunday, as part of Streetsblog Chicago's Bike Lane Week 2024, I checked out a little project to create a more seamless transition between two segments of the Leavitt Street (2200 W.) Neighborhood Greenway side street bike route. North of the North Branch of the Chicago River, the route runs about three miles between Diversey Parkway (2800 N.) and Berwyn Avenue (5300 N.)

Will Ashland opponents try to kill the plan at Wednesday's Transportation committee meeting? And ATA and CTAction respond to the transit agency's bus network plans.