CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Lake View is getting an upgrade at the busy intersection of Lincoln, Ashland, and Belmont Avenues.
On Thursday afternoon, City of Chicago leaders joined construction crews and broke ground on a new streetscape project to increase pedestrian safety.
With over 1,000 similar safety improvements across the city planned for completion by the end of 2023, Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi said it shows a pivot in city plans to now prioritize the growing concerns of pedestrians and bicyclists.
“We’ve recentered the work that we’re doing to make sure it’s safe to move around your city, that it’s affordable, [and] that we have these kinds of improvements in this neighborhood and everywhere across the city," Biagi said.
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In a press release, CDOT officials wrote that the project will include full-width resurfacing, new lighting and traffic signals, street trees, widened sidewalks, and the reconstruction of three intersections.
“We’re making historic improvements to our protected bike lane network, improving all of our plastic delineated lanes — those plastic sticks,” Biagi said. “We’re moving to concrete; that’s the right thing to do.”
Biagi was joined by Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Ald. Matt Martin (47th) at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Waguespack said they’ve been communicating with local shops as they try to avoid major disruptions due to the construction.
“Just recently we met with several businesses to talk about making sure that construction is done in a way that doesn’t hurt their business,” Waguespack said.
The project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2023.
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