A citizen-led initiative to rethink the land around North Lake Shore Boulevard in the neighborhood of Streeterville produced ambitious designs that would create additional shoreline, baldy-needed open space, and a tunnel for Lake Shore Drive.
"An ambitious $177 million proposal to overhaul the lakefront from Olive Park to North Avenue Beach includes creating a new offshore island, straightening the S-curve and burying part of Lake Shore Drive underground," reports Lizzie Schiffman.
A group of Streeterville neighborhood residents commissioned VOA Associates to design the plan. The plan also "calls for expanding beaches at Ohio and Oak streets and adding 60 acres of parkland to the lakefront." Moreover, "[a] nearly 745,000-square-foot coastal island would provide additional protection to the lakeshore," and "[the] project would create 1.2 miles of additional shoreline."
Similar to the "Our Lakefront" plan proposed in 2013, the current proposal grew out of a response to the city's efforts to rethink Lake Shore Drive. Whether this type of neighborhood-sourced, ground up designing and planning is possible in Chicago remains to be seen.
Read the full story: Lake Shore Drive Island? $177M Plan Aims to Embrace Burnham's Vision
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University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
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