Loop

Yesterday, family members, friends, and supporters gathered to install a "ghost bike" memorial to fallen cyclist Yader "Yak" Casteneda, 18 at Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue in the Loop. In speeches during the vigil, his loved ones remembered him as an ambitious, hard-working person, and a supportive brother and friend, who lit up a room with his presence. 

Livable streets advocates were well represented at yesterday's community meeting on "The Grant Park Framework Plan – Chicago’s Front Yard Reimagined" at the Maggie Daley Park fieldhouse, 337 E. Randolph St. And they walked away happy, because the proposal includes putting a deck over DuSable Lake Shore Drive downtown to help make the the Third Coast more accessible and attractive.

Last Thursday's Chicago Mobility Collaborative gathering, hosted by the Chicago Department of Transportation, focused on the topic "Investing in Major Capital Projects." These quarterly events replaced the sometimes-dramatic pre-COVID Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Council meetings. The current format allows City officials and representatives of other organizations to give presentations on walk/bike/transit issues and initiatives, followed by breakout sessions where attendees can provide input.

Watch a video of the speech here.

Recently, Streetsblog Chicago heard from Phil D'Anieri, Teaching Professor at the University of Michigan's Department of Urban and Regional Planning. This week, he's leading a class on a transportation-themed trip to the Windy City. These students are in a new degree program called Urban Technology, and they'll be spending their time in Chicago looking at issues and opportunities related to sustainable transportation.

Sadly, Chicago saw its first bike fatality of 2025 on Memorial Day, when a Hummer driver fatally struck Yader Castaneda, 18, while he was riding an electric Divvy bike-share cycle in the Loop.

On Monday, April 7, at around 5:09 a.m. a pickup driver, 26, fatally struck a 72-year-old male pedestrian at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and DuSable Lake Shore Drive, just west of the Museum Campus. It was reported that the victim had been trying to cross the highway on foot, although it's illegal to do so there.

Rolling on the river provided a fresh perspective on Near North Side and downtown walk/bike/transit facilities.

The victim may have been walking in the street because a gate limiting pedestrian access on the south side of Wacker was locked at the time.