Oak Park leaders have approved a new plan for improving bike safety infrastructure in the village.
The measure passed July 22 by a vote of six to one, with only Trustee Jim Taglia voting against the proposed plan. The vote came after months of spirited discussion over the plan, with Village President Vicki Scaman telling observers that she knew that it was a difficult decision for her and her colleagues to make.
“I know that there was a tug of war for many of us until the last minute,” Scaman said.
The plan approved by elected officials includes using Harvard Street as a main east-west bike route across south Oak Park. Removing all parking from the street was a source of frustration for many neighbors or near Harvard.
Still, improving bicycle access across the village was an issue many sitting trustees campaigned on, and the plan passed because it reflects the trustees’ vision for biking and bike safety in Oak Park, Scaman said.
Village staff have described the new plan as a bid to make Oak Park more accessible for cyclists of all ages, with short-term infrastructure additions in the plan including new bike lanes, neighborhood greenway treatment and other road sharing measures.
It’s an update to a plan that was first ratified in 2008 and last updated in 2014, according to the village. The few dozen short-term updates described in the plan will be worked into the village’s 2026-31 capital improvement plan during this fall’s budget cycle, according to the village.
“The Bike Plan Update network recommendations detail actions along 20 corridors we will pursue over the coming years, with short-, mid-, and long-term timelines,” village staff wrote in the plan. “To meet the plan’s objectives, we must act on different scales – at the intersection, corridor, and village-wide while considering regional connections. While this plan focuses on infrastructure, we will embrace a holistic approach. The village must upgrade our infrastructure, test new street designs, and continue to support new policies and programs that promote a culture of safety.”
The proposed plan had earned a cohort of opponents, many of whom live in south Oak Park either on or near Harvard Street. Harvard Street had become a lynchpin of the discourse around the plan, as the proposal eliminates parking on both sides of the street in favor of striped bike lanes.
Critics said bike lanes on both sides of the street don’t make sense for the relatively quiet residential area and that the village hadn’t been consistent or clear on why it believes that bike lanes are the most appropriate intervention for the road. Harvard Street is low-traffic and has had few cyclist involved accidents over the years, the opponents have said.
“This isn’t justified by the traffic volume or speed or the way Harvard is used by cyclists now, the street doesn’t even extend to Harlem,” resident Evan McKensie told Wednesday Journal by email. “Nothing about this is necessary to the plan. It doesn’t make sense by the terms of the plan itself. So why was the change made? I continue to believe that the plan was changed in order to generate opposition from residents, so that the cyclist advocates can make an example of the opponents and silence the opposition when they go for the north-south routes. We are being falsely portrayed as selfish NIMBYs, not just by the cyclist advocates, but by Wednesday Journal, especially your editorial cartoonist.”
The critics said they would have welcomed a neighborhood greenway treatment to encourage road sharing on the street.
Supporters of the plan have said that Oak Park needs an east-west bike lane south of the Eisenhower Expressway for the entire village to be accessible for cyclists. To them, Harvard Street makes the most sense out of the available options.
Village staff have also pointed to the street’s stop lights at intersections of busy north-south streets like Ridgeland Avenue and Oak Park Avenue as reasons for why Harvard Street is the right choice for south Oak Park’s bike lanes.
“The reason Harvard was selected as the east-west route through the village south of I-290 is because it is one of two streets that span the entire village, it is centrally located and has traffic lights at Oak Park Avenue and Ridgeland Avenue, as well as an all-way stop at East Avenue and Lombard,” staff wrote in the plan’s supporting documents. “This makes crossing the major north-south routes safer and more predictable. Harvard also directly touches three parks and two public schools and several other points of interest.”
The board heard from 10 public commentors on the matter July 22, five speaking in favor of the plan and five speaking against it. It was a more reserved showing compared to the dozens of speakers the board heard from at its June 3 meeting discussing the bike plan.
Former Oak Park Trustee Susan Buchanan, who resigned from the board in May, was among the speakers in favor of the bike plan. Buchanan, who lives four houses north of Harvard, gave a public comment that was a simple acrostic poem for the phrase “NIMBY.”
“B, of course, is for ‘bicycling,’ and ‘bicycle infrastructure’ and ‘protected bike lanes,’” she said. “B is also for ‘B.S.’ which is what I call professing to support bicycle infrastructure except when it’s in your neighborhood.”
