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Originally Posted by Handro
It's not very pedestrian friendly. Irving is 4 lanes of fast traffic abutting right up against the sidewalk with little/no pedestrian or bike protection. They want to add things like pedestrian islands, curb extensions, bike lanes, etc., similar to the work done on Lawrence between Ashland and Western a few years ago.
And yes, I'd LOVE to see bus lanes on Irving! Am I wrong that since Irving Park Road is actually IL 19 and it falls under the purview of IDOT, thus making things like bus lanes more difficult for the city to accomplish there?
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Yes, Irving is an IDOT controlled road. A road diet or a 4-to-2 conversion would likely be opposed by IDOT, but bus or protected bike lanes at the curb would probably not face the same opposition; losing the curbside parking would not affect the capacity of the road for private vehicles, and any conflicts (say, at right turn lanes) can be addressed constructively. IDOT was neutral on Rahm's proposal for BRT on Ashland; they would allow it so long as the traffic issues were addressed somehow.
I looked up Ald Martin's recording of the meeting. It seems like this is a community planning process driven by the alderman himself, not by CDOT. And it's not solely focused on transportation, it includes planning for private development as well. So it's not necessarily about a new streetscaping project but about creating a holistic vision for this area in order to judge development proposals.
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Originally Posted by PKDickman
I doubt that CDoT is holding up their plans on the "If & Come" of some private developer.
It is more likely that they intend to EmDom the lot for a Damen/Elston/Fullerton style bypass and will unload the unused portion of the property when they are done.
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LOL, no. Irving is plenty busy but Lincoln and Damen are relatively quiet roads. Plus it's not like this is some lonely industrial area, there are historic buildings, homes and shops here.
Maybe they might consider doing a Lincoln Square style treatment here where Lincoln is diverted onto Damen between Belle Plaine and Byron. But even that seems unlikely since Belle Plaine was just turned into a spanking new plaza that would need to be ripped up.