Chicago Ordinance Would Require Complete Streets Upgrades

An ordinance proposed by Chicago alderperson Matt Martin would require the Chicago Department of Transportation to make pedestrian, bike, and/or public transit upgrades to roads anytime a street is repaved. As Courtney Cobbs reports in Streetsblog Chicago, “The goal of the legislation is to ensure that every time the Chicago Department of Transportation repaves a street, rather than simply restriping it the same car-centric way as before, it prioritizes the needs of people walking, biking, and riding transit.”

According to a statement from Martin, “This ordinance calls on CDOT to take advantage of its Arterial Resurfacing projects with the regular addition of ambitious infrastructure including protected bike lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, bus bulbs, and raised crosswalks. It will ensure that CDOT prioritizes alternatives to cars.” Cobb notes that “documentation on any exemption must be made publicly available and shared with the City Council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety.”

A similar ordinance in Cambridge, Massachusetts “requires the city to provide protected or raised bike lanes on all streets that are included in its bike master plan except in “rare” circumstances, which city officials are required to justify.”

The ordinance must be approved by the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety before going before the full city council.