Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Brendan Reilly

Drivers Struck 296 People in Reilly’s Ward in the Last Year, No Reported Riverwalk Crashes

By John Greenfield and Steven Vance | Oct 3, 2018 | 6 Comments

The car-pedestrian crashes included 48 cases with incapacitating injuries, but there have been no media reports of serious bike/ped crashes in the ward. So why is Alderman Reilly focused on banning bikes on the riverwalk?

Balbo and Michigan. Photo: John Greenfield

Aldermen Introduced an Ordinance to Rename Balbo Drive for Ida B. Wells

By John Greenfield | May 23, 2018

Some Italian-American community members say they'll continue to fight the name change.

Workers complete Phase I of the flyover, between Ohio Street and the Ogden Slip. Photo: John Greenfield

Official: Reilly Jumped the Gun on Navy Pier Flyover Work

By John Greenfield | Oct 10, 2017 | 10 Comments

A recent announcement by downtown alderman Brendan Reilly that the second phase of Navy Pier Flyover construction was about to begin was premature, according to a city official. In an email to residents on Friday, Reilly stated that Phase II of the $60 million bike/ped bridge, the section between the Ogden Slip and the Chicago […]

Lack of Concrete Protection for Rebuilt Kinzie Lanes Is a Missed Opportunity

By John Greenfield | Oct 14, 2016 | 12 Comments

With apologies to The Who, “Meet the new lanes / The same as the old lanes.” Chicago cyclists have experienced a lot of highs and lows with the Kinzie protected bike lanes. Unfortunately, there’s a new setback. The city has announced the current reconstruction of the lanes won’t involve adding concrete protection, which represents a […]

Reilly to CDOT: Please Fix Dearborn Protected Bike Lane’s Lousy Pavement

By John Greenfield | Aug 10, 2016 | 8 Comments

Downtown alderman Brendan Reilly is known as the man who tried to get the Kinzie protected bike lanes removed, but he recently racked up some bike lane karma. Shaun Jacobsen, the urban planner behind the transportation blog Transitized, wrote to Reilly to about poor pavement conditions on the Dearborn two-way protected bike lane. The alderman […]

Ald. Reilly Has a Responsible Approach to Off-Street Parking

By Steven Vance | Nov 6, 2015 | 15 Comments

When it comes to parking management in Chicago, there have been a couple of encouraging developments recently. In September, City Council passed a beefed-up revision of the transit-oriented development ordinance, which makes it easier than ever to build dense, parking-lite developments near train stations. And, recently, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) made some very sensible statements […]

O’Shea Can You See? Formerly Anti-Bike Alderman Now Wants Divvy

By John Greenfield | Oct 9, 2015 | 2 Comments

DNAinfo’s Ted Cox provided a nice write-up of an entertaining discussion of bike issues that took place at yesterday’s City Council budget hearings. You should definitely check out the original article, but here’s some additional background and analysis. It’s great that aldermen on the Far South Side are clamoring for Divvy stations in their wards. […]

CDOT & Reilly Reach a Consensus on Kinzie: The Protected Lanes Will Remain

By John Greenfield | Sep 1, 2015 | 10 Comments

There’s some great news about Chicago’s oldest protected bike lanes. Yesterday, the Chicago Department of Transportation confirmed that the Kinzie Street PBLs will stay in place for the foreseeable future, despite an effort by downtown alderman Brendan Reilly to force CDOT to remove them. The department installed the Kinzie lanes in 2011, not long after Mayor Rahm […]

Pedicabbers Plan to Defy Loop Ban by Attending City’s Bike to Work Rally

By John Greenfield | Jun 19, 2014 | 6 Comments

Tomorrow’s Bike to Work Rally, 7 to 9 a.m. in Daley Plaza, will celebrate the act of using pedal power to get to your place of business. Mayor Rahm Emanuel may show up to give a speech touting Chicago’s strides towards becoming a more bike-friendly city. However, due to the city’s new pedicab ordinance, which […]

Would NYC’s Midtown Biz Leaders Write Off the Idea of a Car-Free Mag Mile?

By John Greenfield | Feb 13, 2014 | 34 Comments

Yesterday’s Active Transportation Alliance announcement submitting 20 streets for consideration as partial or total car-free spaces has already sparked a lively dialogue. Stories in the Tribune, Sun-Times, ABC, and DNAinfo have all examined whether or not the automobile-dominated status quo represents an appropriate allocation of public space. The boldest proposal on the Active Trans list […]