A Call to Put Chicago in the Driver's Seat for North Lake Shore Drive Redesign

Steven Vance updates the North Lake Shore Drive redesign project, which is under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). After the first public meeting for the project in almost a year and a half, says Vance, the state should turn the project over to the city.

Vance responds with displeasure to the unwillingness to consider converting some of the existing roadway to a transit only lane. "After the meeting," reports Vance, "an IDOT staffer said it’s unlikely that any existing mixed-traffic lanes on the drive will be converted to transit-only lanes as part of the redesign. Instead, transit lanes would probably only included as an add-on to the existing eight lanes."

Vance's opinion: "The shoreline of Lake Michigan doesn’t need 30 more feet of asphalt. Moreover, if buses are removed from all the existing mixed-traffic lanes, even more space will be available for cars on than there is now, further encouraging driving."

Vance goes on to talk about the potential of capping the drive, following the example of Madrid and San Francisco. But to achieve such a dramatically altered outcome, according to Vance, will require that IDOT hand over jurisdiction of the project to the city. There's also a precedent for that action, according to Vance, found in Peoria, Illinois.