Earlier this month at a hearing on the North Lake Shore Drive reconstruction study—dubbed “Redefine the Drive”—officials assured the public that all options for rebuilding Chicago’s coastal highway are still on the table. But the Illinois Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over the drive, isn’t seriously considering the simplest way to help more people travel more efficiently: trading existing mixed-traffic lanes for bus-only lanes.
During the recent hearing at the Chicago History Museum, planners from IDOT noted that North Lake Shore Drive sees 70,000 transit trips a day on nine routes, accounting for one-fifth of all passenger trips on the drive.
Baczek said it’s unlikely any of the drive’s existing travel lanes will be converted to transit-only use, because this would reduce capacity for drivers, and the number of car trips isn’t expected to decrease. Therefore, he implied, adding dedicated bus lanes would probably require widening the highway.
Metropolitan Planning Council vice president Peter Skosey said that since IDOT’s projections say transit use will rise while driving will plateau, it makes sense to dedicate lanes to buses. “It’s preferable to take advantage of existing infrastructure before adding more lanes,” he said, adding that bus corridors could be upgraded to light rail in the future.
John Greenfield edits the transportation news website Streetsblog Chicago.
