New 'Redesign the Drive' Pushes to Unite Lake Shore Drive, Trail

By Carrie Frillman and Andy Ambrosius

Stefani Andersen's "happy place" is on the Lake Front Trail.

The 32-year-old Old Town resident hops on near North Avenue and on a good day, runs through Lake View, she said on Friday, while stretching near Lincoln Park's North Avenue Beach boathouse. But despite the solitude she finds there, there are also plenty of bumps in the road.

"At certain points in Lincoln Park, I opt to run through the park or on the grass," she said. "It's usually because it's too crowded or maybe when the terrain gets a little … rougher."

That's where the Active Transportation Alliance and 14 other civic organizations come in. 

The Chicago and Illinois departments of transportation are launching a new North Lake Shore Drive and trail reconstruction campaign coined, "Redefine the Drive." The 15 groups say they want to see  a "bold vision to better meet the needs of everyone who uses the lakefront," not just drivers. 

CDOT and IDOT are hosting three upcoming meetings, including an Aug. 8option at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and will likely not be convening again until 2014. At those meetings, residents' voices will be heard, and representatives with the ATA want to be heard. 

"The project includes the trail, and we’re interested in ensuring the project is sensitive is not just about the drive itself, but the trail, the beach the water," said Lee Crandell, director of campaigns with the Active Transportation Alliance. "It’s a large enough project."

The planning phase itself is going to take several years, he says, so a study through 2016 will be used. The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Transportation initiated that part of the project on July 22.

"The idea is through that process, they’ll be identifying options for a redesign, and by the end of 2016, the should have what they call a preferred alternative," he said.

Any actual renovation work to the section in question—North Lake Shore Drive and its accompanying trail from Grand Avenue to Hollywood Avenue—will likely be contingent on federal funding.

“We envision a Lake Shore Drive that creates a stronger connection between Chicagoans and their lakefront, knitting together our neighborhoods, our parks and our beaches,” Erma Tranter, executive director of Friends of the Park, said, adding that the lakefront attracts about 60 million visitors each year.

Coalition members say that different sections of the trail and drive present their own challenges. The "S" bend at Oak Street, specifically, may be analyzed for a redesign that improves safety and "better connects the city to the lakefront", Crandell said.

"One of the things our partners and we are looking at are the different types of users," he said. "At the busiest points in the trail, it’s seeing like 30,000 people a day, which is way more than some our busiest streets in Chicago. People who use it regularly know there are close calls and serious crashes."

He suggests separating higher speed traffic from low speed traffic, for example. Coalition members also hope a redesign considers increasing gateway access points to the trail to make it a more seamless walk from the park to the lake. 

Oftentimes, bikers or runners have to go out of their way to find an accessible tunnel because Lake Shore Drive blocks them from the trail.

"Our main point at this time is we’re advocating for a bold vision and really meeting the needs of everyone, not just drivers," Crandell said.

If you look to the recently released "People on the Trail" study, there is much work to be done. 

The in-depth report was spearheaded by the ATA, Friends of the Parks and the Chicago Area Runners Association. It includes the public perceptions of Chicago’s 18-mile Lakefront Trail. 

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A map included in the results shows how survey respondents rated their satisfaction with various segments of the Lakefront Trail. 

Respondents were given the option of rating them as “good” or “needs improvement,” based on their own experiences. 

Among areas needing TLC, according to participants, is a section from around Randolph Street all the way up to Diversey Parkway. 

The trail segments with the highest user satisfaction ratings were north of Irving Park Road as well as between Roosevelt Road and 63rd Street. Generally, those areas were also the least congested parts of the trail, with relatively few reported conflicts and relatively low crash rates. 

The 28-page report includes many suggestions, from placing drinking fountains, concessions or bike racks farther away from the edge of the trail to decrease gathering areas; to filling ruts holes and depressions in the trail's surface "immediately." 

Trail users also said that water fountains and restrooms should be available year-round during regular Chicago Park District hours.

The three August meetings will be the first in what will likely be a long road for Redesign the Drive. Representatives expect the next public meetings to be in 2014.

"It's years off," Crandell said. " … At the public meeting they’ll be taking input to make a vision, then developing the different design options. … By submitting our proposal from the coalition, we’re saying, ‘This is what we think everything should be measured against.'”

See the accompanying flier for upcoming meeting information.