Redefine the Drive

Streetsblog also talked to Envision Unlimited about its adaptive cycling program, which empowered people with special needs to enjoy riding on a car-free DLSD.

Attendees want to see the waterside highway transformed into a people-friendly boulevard with a dedicated transit corridor.

Streetsblog Chicago readers are familiar with how last month sustainable transportation and environmental advocates joined forces with 14 forward-thinking alders. They called on the Chicago and Illinois transportation departments to halt plans to simply rebuild North DuSable Lake Shore Drive as an eight-lane highway, and instead make the lakefront more walk/bike/transit-friendly.

Drawings of potential changes were posted on the Redefine the Drive website, many which are various views of a dramatically transformed Oak Street beach and new green space.

"We’re really at a crucial point in the history of humanity when we can make a real bold decision to have a better future. We should seize the moment.”

We need to reclaim our lakefront and turn it into the truly spectacular green space we deserve. We need to remove the highway through our parks.

The most sustainable option, converting existing traffic lanes to bus-only, is still on the table. But it's not going to happen unless residents voice support for it.

IDOT finally lifted the curtain off its Transit and Managed lanes concepts for the North Lake Shore Drive reconstruction project.

While it’s encouraging to see the state proposing a somewhat less car-centric version of the shoreline highway, their plans still leave a lot to be desired.