Last week’s Wednesday Journal reported and commented on planning for Roosevelt Road’s second streetscape in 20 years. If you live or own a business on North Avenue or nearby, this is bound to be quite frustrating. We’ve long been waiting for our streetscape.
Two separate studies (in 2018 and 2020) found that a North Avenue streetscape is needed for economic development and safety [1, 2]. The need for safety has grown subsequently because drivers are more reckless since the pandemic. Cars are all too often on our sidewalks, sometimes crashing into trees, fences and storefronts. We had a fatality last year, and there have been others. Curb bump-outs and medians would help a lot.
A streetscape is also very much needed and wanted by the community. In 2018, 1,200 households surveyed (one-third of those living within four blocks of North Avenue in Oak Park and Chicago) said the streetscape is a top (66%) or very important (33%) priority.
Funding for our streetscape has been in state Representative Camille Lilly’s capital budget since 2019. We greatly appreciate her putting our project in this budget and keeping it there. But we truly don’t understand why the funds haven’t been released for six years. CDOT has submitted two more plans requested by Rep. Lilly, in addition to the detailed block-by-block plan already created in 2020. Village President Vicki Scaman has tried her best to get our project going. Alderman Chris Taliaferro supports it, as does state Sen. Don Harmon.
Perhaps it’s time to pursue other sources of streetscape funding.
Sources:
1) Urban Land Institute in partnership with Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Revitalization Strategies for the North Avenue Corridor, Oak Park and Chicago, Dec. 2018 https://ulidigitalmarketing.blob.core.windows.net/ulidcnc/2019/05/NorthAv_FinalReport_reduced.pdf
2) Chicago Dept. of Transportation, Chicago-Oak Park Traffic Safety & Mobility on North Avenue, May 2020 https://policycommons.net/artifacts/4666515/cdot-oak-park-north-avenue-traffic-safety-and-mobility-study/5490825/
Judith Alexander
Co-founder of the North Avenue District
and its predecessor organization
