Lake Shore Drive north reconstruction

Last week, city and state planners opened a call to the public to suggest potential elements for the North Lake Shore Drive reconstruction study, which they're call "Redefine the Drive." Almost a year ago, the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Transportation hosted a series of public meetings to gauge public support and solicit volunteers to join task forces that would guide the study.

John Krause isn't the only north lakefront resident who realizes that the Illinois Department of Transportation's "Redefine The Drive" reconstruction of North Lake Shore Drive is a chance to reinvent how the city meets the shore and the street.

Local architect John Krause sees the reconstruction of North Lake Shore Drive, one of Chicago's most scenic locations, as a chance to think big -- not just about the road, but also about parks, transit, trails, the shoreline, and the future of the city alongside it. The Illinois Department of Transportation isn't used to thinking like that, though, and so Krause sees its "Redefine the Drive" project as a process "that looks and feels suboptimal."

IDOT’s revisions to the newly updated North Lake Shore Drive “Purpose and Needs Statement,” an opening salvo that sets the tone for the long process of rebuilding the Drive, might not quite be on the same scale as landing on the moon. However, a few seemingly minor text edits signal a huge shift in how the agency will treat active transportation in the upcoming reconstruction. A comparison between the April draft statement [PDF] and the May draft [PDF] reveals substantial changes to what IDOT lists as the project's priorities.

There is no highway for the sake of traffic. There is a highway for the sake of moving large quantities of people because people generate traffic. Depending on the highway's alignment, and the land use, how much traffic people will choose to generate is highly influenceable. If it's tolled, more people than usual will carpool or take transit. If a highway is built passing highly desirable destinations without other ways to reach them, it will get congested. Neither of these are uncontrollable phenomena. I'm talking about Lake Shore Drive and the project to study the alternatives for the corridor between Grand Avenue and where Lake Shore Drive ends at Hollywood Avenue. The study's public participation, the first group in a series of 5 meetings, began last week, where citizens learned about the study and the data project group members – the Chicago and Illinois Departments of Transportation, CTA, and the Chicago Park District – have gathered so far.

The north portion of Lake Shore Drive, from Grand Avenue to its northern terminus at Hollywood Avenue, will be rebuilt in the next five years. It's a major transportation project and a huge opportunity for Chicago, but will we make the most of it?

Back in August, longtime bicycling activist Randy Neufeld – currently the director of the SRAM Cycling Fund and formerly the Active Transportation Alliance's first paid staffer – outlined an intriguing proposal in Chicago Magazine: building a bike-and-bus highway into the north Lake Shore Drive reconstruction project.