At the Oak Park Transportation Commission meeting on Jan. 13, dozens of Oak Park homeowners who live on Le Moyne Parkway and Harvard Street beseeched the Transportation Commission, in comments delivered both in person and in writing (some of which were read into the record), not to pursue elements of the most recent draft of the Bike Plan that would result in the loss of parking on both streets in the foreseeable future. Some of these homeowners would be prohibited from parking within a half block of their homes as a result of the combined effects of the Bike Plan and pre-existing parking regulations.
It is distressing that these homeowners felt compelled to plead their cases before the Transportation Commission. It should be self-evident without need of explanation that street access to one’s house is a necessity for any Oak Park homeowner.
These homeowners never should have been put in the position of having to defend their right to park in front of their homes. That they were is symptomatic of a malfunction deep within the gears of Oak Park’s policy-making and governance.
Adrian Marquez
Oak Park