Steven Vance
Transportation planner and advocate. Steven also created Chicago Cityscape, a site that tracks neighborhood developments across the city.
Recent Posts
What to Expect at Next Week’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council Meeting
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Soon after I heard that Lisa Kuivenen had tragically died while riding their bike after a truck driver tried to merge across the Milwaukee Avenue bike lane I got a little furious. I was upset that her fatal crash was continuing a pattern of cyclist deaths – Blaine Klingenberg and Virginia Murray died after commercial vehicle […]
Unfortunately, Parking Issues Dictate How Robust 45th Ward Bikeways Will Be
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Milwaukee Avenue is Chicago’s busiest biking street, with as many as 5,000 bike trips a day during the high season, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation, with most of that cycling taking place between Logan Square and the Loop. But the Blue Line corridor is becoming an increasingly popular place to live, and we’re […]
Tweets Spur CDOT to Shut Down Illegal Construction in Dearborn Bike Lane
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Yesterday Twitter users notified the Chicago Department of Transportation about an unpermitted closure of the Dearborn Street two-way protected bike lane and a crosswalk. To their credit, CDOT acted swiftly to shut down the illegal blockage at Randolph Street, caused by contractors working for SBC Communications. The bike lane is one of the city’s busiest […]
Francisco Cruz, 58, Fatally Struck by Van Driver While Biking in West Garfield
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We will update this post throughout the day as more facts are made available. Francisco Cruz, 58, was struck and killed while biking in West Garfield Park Wednesday night by a cargo van driver who fled the scene. This newest tragedy happened the day after art student Lisa Kuivinen while riding a bike in West Town Tuesday morning. […]
Alderman Burnett Weighs In on Kuivinen Case, Cyclists Honor Fallen Rider
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The case of Lisa Kuivinen, a 20-year-old art student who was fatally struck by an 18-wheel flatbed truck driver while cycling on Milwaukee Avenue yesterday morning, has moved many Chicagoans, from everyday bike riders to city officials. Around 8:15 a.m. Kuivinen, a Rolling Meadows native who studied animation at the School of the Art Institute […]
Dallas Plans to Deck Over a Highway — With a Parking Garage
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“The most Dallas thing ever.” That’s how Robert Wilonsky at The Dallas Morning News described a new plan to build a parking garage over a highway in the Big D. The project adds an ironic twist to what has been, until now, a civic success story. Klyde Warren Park is a beloved five-acre space that sits on a lid […]
City Hopes to Use State Law Allowing Transit TIFs to Rebuild CTA Red Line
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office has started crafting an ordinance that would activate a state law allowing the city to create “transit TIF districts” – officially called Transit Facility Improvement Areas – around four transit projects, according to the Chicago Tribune. Boundaries could be drawn up to a half mile around Chicago’s Union Station (to fund the […]
Transit-Oriented Housing Proposals Finally Make it to the South Side
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Earlier this year, transit-oriented development made the jump from being proposed and built only next to Chicago Transit Authority stations to also being proposed next to a Metra station. Now, the trend that has brought hundreds of new market-rate and affordable designated housing units to vacant lots near Chicago ‘L’ stations has jumped to the South Side. […]
Evanston Protected Lanes Face Backlash While Making Dodge Ave. Safer
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Evanston installed new protected bike lanes on Dodge Avenue from Howard Street to Lake Street last month, and already some residents are complaining that the lanes have made it unsafe to park their cars. But these fears are unfounded because Chicago has had protected lanes with a nearly identical design for five years. The new Dodge protected […]
Meeting to Discuss Manor Greenway Amidst Opposition Set for Thursday
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The 33rd Ward is holding the monthly meeting of its Transportation Action Committee on Thursday to discuss the Manor Greenway, a proposal from the Chicago Department of Transportation to connect two multi-use park paths via an on-street route on Manor Greenway. Jeff Sobczyk, assistant to Alder Deb Mell, said in the meeting announcement that the […]
New County Policy Supports Active Transportation, Lacks Specific Goals
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Cook County’s new “Long Range Transportation Plan,” released last week, is the first such document published since 1940 and is a policy platform that will guide decisions about transportation spending for the next 24 years. To the credit of county officials, the plan voices strong support for improving walking, biking, and transit, which represents a […]
Eyes on the Street: Vigil at the Avondale Corner Where Virginia Murray Died
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Motorists drove carefully around the large crowd of supporters that had gathered and spilled into the roadway last night at the corner of Belmont and Sacramento, where Virginia Murray was fatally struck while riding a bicycle on July 1. Over 40 people had come for a vigil for Murray, and to watch the installation of a ghost […]