Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive revival met with resistance

CHICAGO (CN) — Activists and local politicians swarmed Chicago's Harry S. Truman College Thursday afternoon in protest of an open house for a project that would revamp Lake Shore Drive.

The Illinois and Chicago Departments of Transportation's proposal aims to reshape lakefront traffic and reimagine the lake's recreational spaces on Chicago's famous Lake Shore Drive, according to informational pamphlets from Thursday's open house.

The project began in 2013 after a study by the Illinois Department of Transportation found that much of the roadway's infrastructure was outdated. A good deal of Lake Shore Drive was erected in the 1930s through the Work Progress Administration program, and while the Drive has been repaired and repaved many times, local officials say the road is in desperate need of a makeover.

The proposed project would redo seven miles of North Lake Shore Drive, from Grand Avenue to Hollywood Avenue.

Transportation officials selected the plan they presented Thursday from five others. The chosen proposal would add more than 100 acres of lakefront green space, increase pedestrian access points, and remove the red lights off of Chicago Avenue.

The plan would add on and off bus-only ramps that officials say would significantly reduce transit travel time. It would soften the sharp curve near Oak Street Beach, but ultimately the speed limit wouldn't change much. The current speed limit on North Lake Shore Drive is 40 mph, and the proposal would bump the limit up to 45 mph.

State Sen. Mike Simmons was one of several politicians who spoke out against the plan at Thursday's rally. The Democrat from Chicago called bus ramps in lieu of bus-only lanes "an insult to our intelligence."

Other plans considered included light rail transit, a submerged express tunnel and a surface boulevard, but officials said those proposals did not meet the project purpose or needs.

The chief concerns the plan seeks to address include improved safety and mobility for users, access to public transit and infrastructure deficiencies. Researchers found that the roadway carries up to 170,000 vehicles and averages three vehicle crashes daily.

But transportation activists say the project prioritizes personal vehicles more than accessible bike lanes and public transportation.

"When I first heard about the project, I think all of us were fed this idea from IDOT that it was basically them just rebuilding Lake Shore Drive, but making it safer, making it better, faster, less dangerous, things like that," Sammy Schneider, a Lakeview resident, said in an interview ahead of Thursday's meeting. "Through learning all of these things, even just in my own job as an architect working on city projects, I've just found that I feel a bit gaslit by the state, by Illinois Department of Transportation, on what they're selling versus what I'm seeing them propose."

Steve Schilke, the head of consultant studies at the Illinois Department of Transportation, said one of the essential questions planners focused on was, "'can we do more for public transportation?'"

"There have been a hodgepodge of projects [that look to improve Lake Shore Drive], but we've taken a holistic look with forward thinking about microtransit," Schilke said.

The proposal would be funded by a combination of state and federal funds, but ultimately there is much more that needs to be fleshed out before the project is officially a go, he said.

One of the biggest facets of the project that activists and other Chicagoans took issue with was the absence of a dedicated bus lane.

"We love our public transit [and] we want it to be successful. And what we're talking about here is not a war between park advocates and bicyclists and public transit advocates," Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, alderperson for the 48th Ward, said. "It's about all of us working together. That's right. That's the only way we're going to win this is if we stick together. So what do we want? We want a dedicated bus lane. Why is that not in the plan?"

Manaa-Hoppenworth was one of 14 alderpersons and community organization members who signed a letter asking the Department of Transportation to halt the project before it moves out of its planning phases.

"Our understanding is that, while construction on this unfunded multibillion dollar project is many years away, all options that include significant mass transit elements have been categorically eliminated from consideration by IDOT," the letter reads.

State legislators also unanimously passed a resolution that aims to reimagine the Lake Shore Drive renovation.

Activists from organizations such as Better Streets Chicago offered an alternative to the plan. They proposed a boulevard that could be utilized by all modes of transit — from cyclists, to drivers and transit users. Their proposal also includes lowering the speed limit of the boulevard, because while the speed limit is currently 40 mph, many drivers tend to go much faster.

"If we could do it for DuSable Lake Shore Drive and make it the boulevard, the beautiful boulevard, the tree lined boulevard, it deserves to be, we could do it for any damn street in the city of Chicago," Democratic state Sen. Robert Peters. said. "As a Chicagoan we talk all the time [about how] we're a world class city. Well, this is an opportunity to do a world class thing. I don't need a new stadium. I don't need more lanes. I want to get on the bus, look at the lake and say, look at how beautiful this city is."

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