Lincoln Square

Ald. Andre Vasquez and his staff discussed upcoming pedestrian improvements, plazas, and bikeways, plus the new Peterson/Ridge Metra station.

"It will make it safer for the kids to walk and bike to school or for recreation," said an attendee. "So, it’s really for them. For the future."

Update 12/21/23, 1:15 PM: In response to this article, Ald. Vasquez stated on Twitter that, since the goal of this project is improved safety, the 40th Ward and CDOT will continue monitoring the reversal of the 4800 block of North Francisco Avenue. They'll keep an eye out for any new issues that may arise at the intersection of Frnacisco and Aislie avenues, such as the potential for head-on collisions, which some constituents have voiced concern about. If deemed necessary, the ward and CDOT will potentially make changes to the design, such as reversing the direction of this block once again.

The purpose of the meeting was to get feedback from residents before finalizing the design.

A critical planned safe streets improvement is at risk of being cancelled by Ald. Andre Vasquez, who's usually a safe streets supporter

Physically protected bike lanes, which are becoming more common in our city, might have prevented Heggemann's tragic death.

When the city installs nice things for bike riders and pedestrians, reckless drivers often destroy them. That happened twice within the last couple of days in two different locations in the 40th Ward.

While it's a bummer that biking on Lawrence itself won't be improved as part of the streetscape project, we can look forward to the nearby Leland Greenway opening next year.

It's good to hear that this proposal wasn't deep-sixed due to complaints that there weren't enough car parking spaces. That's basically the dumbest possible reason to not build housing on land near a transit station.