Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about State Policy

Hamstrung by IDOT, City Plans Buffered Lanes Where Cann Was Killed

By John Greenfield | Jun 12, 2013 | 18 Comments

Last Thursday, about a week after the May 29th death of cyclist Robert “Bobby” Cann, killed by an allegedly drunk, speeding driver at Clybourn and Larrabee, the Chicago Department of Transportation announced plans to stripe buffered bike lanes on the entire 3.5-mile length of Clybourn, from Division to Belmont. Construction should start either this week […]

Amtrak’s Bike-on-Train Success Should Inspire South Shore Line

By Steven Vance | Jun 6, 2013 | 9 Comments

Amtrak riders tested new bike racks in the snack car of a train to Michigan last month, as the railroad prepares to launch roll-on service for trains to Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Lansing. Derrick James, the director of government affairs for the central region of Amtrak, sent these photos of the event. This single-level Amtrak […]

Residents Start Petition to Fight IDOT’s Circle Interchange Project

By Steven Vance | May 15, 2013 | 13 Comments

The residents of 400 S Green Street, the building where the Illinois Department of Transportation plans to build a new highway ramp just a few feet away, have begun a petition to rally neighbors in opposition to the project. The proposed flyover is part of IDOT’s $400 million Circle Interchange expansion, a project that the Chicago Metropolitan […]

State Court Ruling May Erode Right to Walk in Unmarked Crosswalks

By Steven Vance | May 8, 2013 | 15 Comments

A recent decision by Illinois’s 1st District Court of Appeals could make it harder to hold city governments and individual drivers accountable for pedestrian safety. The ruling by Justice Sheldon Harris [PDF] concerns a case in a which pedestrian was struck and killed by a driver on 95th Street in Oak Lawn. By creating a new […]

The Case of IDOT’s Mysterious Extra Highway Lane

By Steven Vance | Apr 17, 2013 | 5 Comments

In a move that has baffled and frustrated residents of 400 S Green Street, the Illinois Department of Transportation has apparently ruled out a version of the Circle Interchange expansion project that would avoid building a new, elevated highway ramp above Halsted Street. At an April 3 hearing on the project, IDOT told residents the […]

IDOT Failed to Inform People of Highway Ramp That Will Roar By Their Home

By Steven Vance | Apr 2, 2013 | 16 Comments

The Circle Interchange expansion project that the Illinois Department of Transportation has crammed into the regional planning process is projected to increase pollution and decrease transit ridership, but no one has more reason to be opposed to the project than the 57 families who live at 400 South Green. Until one month ago, IDOT had […]

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