Community weighs in on plans to redesign Lakeview section of DuSable Lake Shore Drive
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Lakeview community members gathered Thursday evening for a discussion on the city's plans to redevelop North DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
The Redefine the Drive community meeting focused on the portion of the project that runs through Lakeview – specifically the section between Belmont Avenue and Addison Street. The meeting was held at Temple Sholom, 3480 N. Lake Shore Dr.
The Chicago Department of Transportation displayed new graphical renderings with proposed changes to bus staging, exits and entrances to the Drive, land reclamation, and additional green space.
Among the proposals shown on the website for the project are a separated bike and pedestrian overpass at Addison Street; an expanded 50-foot-wide shared-use underpass at Hawthorne Place; and new traffic lights on Inner Lake Shore Drive at Aldine Avenue and Hawthorne Place.
Changes to the configuration of pedestrian and bike pathways are also proposed.
CDOT Assistant Chief Highway Engineer David Miller said the goal is to improve conditions on the Drive for all.
"Right now in the project, we're still in the Phase 1 study planning process. So we're still developing plans. Nothing has been finalized as far as the design. But we're focusing on delivering a project that increases accessibility for the lakefront for pedestrians, for bicyclists, make it a better place to take transit through and to – and also increase safety for motorists, because that's really important too," he said.
But Sam Wight, an organizer for Chicago, Bike Grid Now! said he was not satisfied with the proposals and wanted to see reduced traffic volumes on DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
"We're pushing for, instead of like keeping traffic volumes around the same, reducing them to like lower noise, and also making safer and more accessible for pedestrians," he said.
Wight said Chicago is behind the times when it comes to improving roadways for pedestrians and cyclists.
"A lot of what I'm seeing here is years behind what other cities are doing right now, and this is a trend that we've seen with CDOT and IDOT," he said. "If you look at the history of the pedestrian infrastructure they've built or the bike infrastructure they've built, there is a heavy reluctance to reduce vehicle speeds – and we know that the largest cause of traffic violence is people speeding."
Miller said the proposals for the changes along the Drive between Belmont Avenue and Addison Street have been discussed with Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) and James Cappleman (46th) and their incoming successors – Bennett Lawson and Angela Clay, respectively.
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"CDOT is sort of proposing here business as normal. There's no consideration of lane reductions. There's actually on the table a lane expansion, which is frankly shocking."