Bike Lanes, Bus And Rail Lanes, 35 MPH Speed Limit Part Of Lake Shore Drive Proposal

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 6, 2013 4:20PM

Rendering credit: Thom Greene, Greene & Proppe Design, Inc.

Officials with the Chicago Department of Transportation and Illinois Department of Transportation kick off three days of public hearings Tuesday over a plan to transform Lake Shore Drive from Hollywood Blvd. to Grand Ave. in what supporters say is a return of the roadway to Daniel Burnham's original vision as a shared use thoroughfare.

The "Our Lakefront" plan, commissioned by 15 different organizations including the Active Transportation Alliance, The Alliance for the Great Lakes, Illinois PIRG, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation, calls for better connectivity between Lake Shore Drive and the greenery surrounding it; dedicated lanes for high-speed bicyclists, bus or light rail; managing congestion from parking along the drive and reducing the speed limit from 40 MPH to 35 MPH.

The southern half of Lake Shore Drive was rebuilt a decade ago and IDOT officials say the northern half is between 60-80 years old in spots, with at least 22 viaducts and bridges that may need to be replaced, so now is an ideal time to discuss implementing some of the changes. Active Transportation Alliance spokesman Lee Crandell told the Sun-Times the drive has "slowly turned into a freeway. We want it to feel like a boulevard."

Any plan to rebuild Lake Shore Drive's northern stretch will require securing state and federal funding and would not begin until 2019, at the earliest. The public hearings for the project are in the following locations.

Aug. 6, 6 - 8 p.m., Gill Park, 825 W. Sheridan Road, 3rd Floor
Aug. 7, 6 - 8 p.m., Truman College, 1145 W. Wilson Avenue, Atrium
Aug. 8, 6 - 8 p.m., Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, South Gallery