After Lolla ped crash, CDOT says the Queen's Landing crosswalk will re-open

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Permalink Reply by Lizzy M. on August 18, 2011 at 9:48am

I wonder why the city doesn't provide more over/under passes on that part of the Drive--or Michigan Avenue at the same point. I imagine it's more expensive and probably take up more space alongside the intersections, but I wonder what other barriers or arguments against is exist. There's definitely higher pedestrian demand for crossing than the current set up allows.

 

Honestly, I'd love to see congestion-pricing for everything south of North Avenue and north of Roosevelt, east of the River/Highway. I'd vote for someone who reduced on-street parking in the neighborhoods, to discourage driving, too. I wish they'd try the "close State street to private automobile traffic" experiment again. It really is a hostile place out there for people not in cars, which is terrible, because the city is so very walkable and bikeable and even much more interesting on foot/bike.

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Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on August 18, 2011 at 9:54am

Yes, more frequent ped/bike access to the lakefront, especially downtown would be great.

 

I predict we'll also see a movement towards better ped access to Millennium Park, starting with abolishing the absurd three-street ped crossing to get from the Chicago Cultural Center to the park at Randolph. CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein discusses this issue here.

 

And yes, congestion pricing would work great downtown. They came close to trying it in NYC but it was shot down by state legislators. But I think we'll be trying it here in the next decade or so.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on August 18, 2011 at 1:07pm

I'm so glad to read there's movement afoot to reopen this crossing. Closing it and forcing people to take a half mile detour (quarter mile to the crossing + quarter mile to the intended destination) is irrational.

 

Let's not even begin to discuss how ugly the fencing has been.

 

The city should build a cool pedestrian-only bridge there, and hold a design competition for it. If we can have an enormous peds bridge crossing from Pritzker Pavillion across Columbus leading effectively to nowhere anyone wants to go, we should have something awesome here, in a useful location.

 

Budget concerns will probably allow only a street-level crossing, I suspect. I suggest that the signal be triggered by users, so that there's no need to stop traffic if pedestrians aren't present. How about painting the crosswalk with red paint, with a historical marker sign referencing the queen's visit and the actual red carpet that was laid out for her? That would be pretty cheap, and something for pedestrians to read as they wait for the signal to change.

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Permalink Reply by Tim S on August 18, 2011 at 2:17pm

Gates or not at Queens Landing I see people all the time run across. It was so silly for them to remove the crossing there. Anything to slow the car speeds on that stretch of LSD will be welcome.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Korn on August 18, 2011 at 7:23pm

Thanks for mentioning the Campaign for a Free and Clear Lakefront.  Restoring the pedestrian access at the Queen's Landing is a great step, but the real problem of Lake Shore Drive remains for now, and we'll keep working for its removal.

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