Chatham

Last week at a town hall meeting hosted by the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council, West Chesterfield resident and transit advocate Michael LaFargue discussed efforts to improve transportation access and encourage investment on the Far South Side.

Vincennes Avenue, which runs southwest from the 69th Street Red Line to the city limits, is one of the bike-priority Spoke Routes identified in the City's Streets for Cycling Plan 2020. Vincennes already had conventional bike lanes running from the train stop to 76th, and protected and buffered lanes from 84th to 103rd.

Earlier this summer the Chicago Department of Transportation implemented a complete streets overhaul on State Street between 69th and 79th, in Park Manor and Chatham, as part of effort to slow down car traffic and make the area friendlier to pedestrians. Located just east of the Dan Ryan, the street is essentially a frontage road, which drivers have treated as an ittension of the expressway.

State Street between 69th and 79th, in Park Manor and Chatham, is currently a pretty grim roadway. Located just east of the Dan Ryan, it’s essentially a frontage road, which drivers treat as an extension of the expressway. The pavement is a moonscape, and the street is lined with a motley mix of retail.

It’s unclear why DNAInfo chose to give airtime to folks griping about temporarily losing what they consider to be their God-given right to park directly in front of their homes. In today’s post “Red Line Rehab Will Make State Street Not Great Street for Parking,” the website airs the grievances of people along South State Street who won’t be able to store their cars on their street during the five-month South Red Line reconstruction.