Sunday Parkways To Close Some Streets For Biking

By Margaret Lyons in News on Aug 13, 2008 5:50PM

Get psyched, pedal-powered people: October 5 and October 26, parts of main boulevards in the city will be closed to cars to create a thoroughfare for people on bikes, scooters, folks pushing strollers and plain-old pedestrians. The Sunday Parkways program builds community, combats obesity, relieves congestion and noise pollution, and encourages people to explore their neighborhoods, according to the Chicagoland Bike Federation.

The original plan, according to writer and bicycle enthusiast John Greenfield, was a bit more ambitious:

Chicago’s initial proposal was to create a 7.5-mile route along the boulevards connecting three large green spaces on the city’s west side: Douglas, Garfield and Humboldt parks. The route would pass through the neighborhoods of Little Village, North Lawndale, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park and Logan Square. While cars were to be virtually banned from the boulevards, cross streets would still be open to motorized vehicles. Cyclists, walkers and skaters on the Sunday Parkways route would obey traffic signals to allow cross traffic to flow smoothly.

The plan was to run pilots on three summer Sundays. One Sunday the event would take place on the northern half of the boulevard route; on the second Sunday it would take place on the South Side; on the third Sunday the entire route would be used.

Instead, Sunday Parkways will only run for two Sundays, both in October, and it won't be quite as car-free as organizers had originally hoped, nor will the South Side route be as scenic and social as it could have been. Still, Sunday Parkways is a start. [More at CBF]