BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY in the WArd
Our office is committed to maintaining and expanding safe infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists in our ward, which helps make our streets safer for pedestrians and children and create space for alternative, greener ways to travel the City, as well as attracting neighbors to visit our parks and small businesses.
Find information about proposed pedestrian and bike projects, resources for new and experienced bicyclists, and ways to get involved in improving our bike infrastructure.
Pedestrian and Bike Improvements
Upcoming Bike Projects
Clark Street Protected Bike Lane - construction started late October 2023
Our office has been working with CDOT and the 46th Ward office to calm traffic and create a safer bike and pedestrian experience on Clark Street from Irving Park to Montrose. We hosted a virtual community meeting on 6/28 to present a project that includes the construction of a protected bike lane on that stretch of Clark. You can review CDOT's slides and watch a recording of their presentation here.
Leland Greenway Expansion - coming 2023/24
The 47th Ward Leland Greenway will successfully connect neighbors to the Lake and the River, and will create a low-stress bike path near three schools that could be used to safely commute, visit our local businesses, or just take a leisurely bike ride with family and friends. Neighbors associations are helping us identify needed include traffic calming measures and potential improvements to parkway green spaces. This project was awarded a federal grant, and only required supplemental funding from our office totaling approximately $120,000.
Alderman Martin hosted a virtual community meeting on 1/18/22 with CDOT and Alderman Vasquez (40th) to present the updated plans for the Leland Greenway. You can view a recording of the meeting, as well as access documents and plans for the Greenway, by visiting the city’s Complete Streets website.
The Greenway is expected to be constructed in the summer of 2023. CDOT anticipates building it out in three phases, starting with the curb extensions and contraflow lane east of Lincoln, then west of Western, before finally building the concrete-protected bi-directional lane between Lincoln and Western. The raised crosswalk at Wolcott will also be built in a later phase.
Leavitt Greenway and Berteau Greenway Expansion - construction started summer 2023
The Department of Transportation (CDOT) is working to convert Leavitt St. from Diversey Pkwy to Bowmanville Ave to a Neighborhood Greenway to calm car traffic and create a safer environment for cyclists and pedestrians. This low-impact project will involve adding speedhumps and striping a contraflow bike lane on all one-way portions of Leavitt to allow cyclists to travel in both directions. The project will not remove any parking or otherwise change the geometry of Leavitt, but will provide cyclists with a calm North-South route to travel between neighborhoods.
We worked with CDOT and our neighboring wards to identify Leavitt for this project as it offers a calmer alternative to all other North-South streets between Ravenwood Ave and the river (with only Damen currently featuring a bike lane). Leavitt has traffic lights at every major intersection, making it safer for cyclists to cross these larger streets, and connects to multiple low-stress East-West bike routes (School/Roscoe, Berteau, Leland, Bryn Mawr).
To access a recording our CDOT's 7/10/23 meeting and access presentation materials, please click this link.
As part of the Leavitt contraflow lane striping, the existing contraflow lane on the Berteau Greenway (between Damen and Lincoln) will be extended from Lincoln to Western to connect with Leavitt.
Recent Bike Projects
Montrose Ave Dashed Bike Lane - 2022
In coordination with the 33rd Ward west of the river, we striped a dashed bike lane along the length of Montrose Ave between Clark and Western. This bike lane also includes bike boxes at signalized intersections.
Sunnyside Contraflow Lane - 2022
As part of the 47th Ward’s 2021/22 Participatory Budgeting vote, ward residents selected an infrastructure project that will improve bike and pedestrian safety along the north side of Welles Park. Welles Park leadership has informed our office that vehicles on Sunnyside often ignore the stop signs in front of the park fieldhouse at the intersection of Sunnyside & Oakley.
The bike lane connects Welles Park and Sulzer Library to nearby Waters Elementary and encourage bikers going to the fieldhouse to use the street as opposed to biking on the sidewalk. Since it is a contraflow bike lane, bikes will go in the opposite direction of cars making them more visible to them.
Campbell/Roscoe Protected Bike Lane - 2021
In July 2021, we constructed the 47th Ward’s first protected bike lane on Campbell and Roscoe running from Belmont Ave to Western Ave. It provides a safe alternative to riding on Belmont and crossing the intersection of Belmont, Western, and Clybourn. It also provides a safe connection for cyclists between Roscoe Village and Clark Park, as well as the pedestrian Riverview Bridge, the Belmont bridge, and Lane Tech and De Paul College Prep High Schools.
Grace Street Contraflow Lane - 2020
Grace St. is a collector street that runs uninterrupted between Campbell and Du Sable Lake Shore Drive; it was identified in the Chicago Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 as a low-stress Neighborhood Bike Route. In late 2020, the 47th Ward installed a contraflow lane on Grace St. between Lincoln Ave and Damen Ave. You can read a news report concerning this project here.
Waters Elementary Bike Lane - 2020
As part of the 47th Ward’s 2020 Participatory Budgeting vote, ward residents chose to install painted bike lanes on either side of Waters Elementary School to improve visibility and safety for students biking to school. The bike lanes, which were installed in October 2020, run with traffic on Maplewood from Montrose to Wilson and on Campbell from Wilson to Montrose. They will connect with the future Leland Greenway on Campbell. You can read a news report concerning this project here.
Low stress Bike Routes
Chicago Reader created and maintains this map that identifies low stress bike routes to make your commute or family bike ride more enjoyable. You can also map your bike route using the Mellow Bike Map website.
Get involved
The Transportation Committee meets monthly to address issues regarding transportation, parking, biking, and traffic. For more information, email info@aldermanmartin.com or apply here.