Lawrence Avenue

From more people experiencing homelessness sleeping on 'L' trains, to an increasing number of tents in viaducts, housed Chicagoans are seeing constant reminders of the city's failure to take care of our most vulnerable residents.

This is the time of year when the Chicago Department of Transportation hustles to get the last of the new bikeways installed before it’s too cold to stripe thermoplastic. Since the threshold is 50 degrees Fahrenheit, this week’s cold snap could mean the end of the construction season. Hopefully, this year, CDOT won’t attempt to continue striping after it’s too cold, which has previously led to problems with quickly disappearing bike lane markings.

The one mile of Lawrence Avenue between Ashland and Western avenues, through the Ravenswood neighborhood, went on a road diet this year. The diet slimmed Lawrence from four to two travel lanes, and used the extra space to create room for bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and extensive landscaping. The streetscape project right-sized this stretch of Lawrence, bringing it in line with the two-lane segments both west of Western and east of Ashland.

A proposal to build a suburban-style Walgreens at the busy corner of Lawrence and Kimball avenues in Albany Park, across from the Brown Line's terminus, has sparked a proposal to introduce Pedestrian Street designations to the lively, diverse neighborhood.

Members of Albany Park Neighbors, a grassroots group of local residents, are gearing up to convince Walgreens to change the company's proposed suburban store design for Kimball and Lawrence to one that will work better for a walkable city neighborhood.

Shaun Jacobsen is the author of Transitized. 

Three years after the Chicago Department of Transportation presented renderings and details about a proposal to narrow Lawrence Avenue between Clark Street and Western Avenue in Lincoln Square, construction began in June despite late opposition from business owners.