+ Milwaukee Bike Lanes

The Milwaukee Ave Complete Streets project is tentatively set to start Wednesday, September 25, 2024 pending coordination with utilities in the area and weather permitting. Construction will be from Logan Blvd to Western Ave and is expected to take 12 weeks.

The work will include milling the existing asphalt pavement, asphalt paving, bus pads, landscaping, bike lane improvements, bike lane medians, bike lane markings and striping.

During construction, temporary “No Parking” signs will be periodically installed as required for each activity listed above. These temporary signs will restrict parking during working hours, while adhering to rush hour restrictions, for the completion of the work. This project will be managed by the Chicago Department of Transportation. If you require any additional information regarding this project, please leave a message at 312-722-6590 and someone will return your call.

+ Chestnut Residential Lighting

Construction on Chestnut St from Greenview Ave to Ashland Ave is tentatively scheduled to begin the week of September 30, 2024, pending clearance from and coordination with existing utilities, current work schedule fluctuations, and weather permitting. John Burns Construction is the contractor for this project and Stanley Consultants is providing resident engineering services for the Chicago Department of Transportation. This work is part of the Chicago Residential Lighting Improvements program.

The work will include the installation of foundations, boring of underground conduits, cable pulling, the installation of new residential lighting poles with piggyback lights, LED Smart Lighting luminaires, and the restoration of concrete sidewalks and parkways disturbed by the construction. The existing light poles will be removed once the new lighting system is functioning properly.

During construction, temporary “No Parking” signs will be periodically installed as required for each activity listed above so that work may be performed safely. These temporary signs will restrict parking during working hours, and residents can park normally after the posted hours and overnight, and usually all day on weekends.

The existing lights will remain working until the new lighting system is functional. If no lighting is observed at night at any time, please notify 311 or the 1st Ward Office.

+ PB 2024 – 2025

The 1st Ward's 2025 PB cycle kicked off on Monday, September 23, 2024. This year, PB groups will meet bi-monthly until January 2025 to collaborate and create infrastructure projects in the following areas:

• Pedestrian safety (raised crosswalks and bump-outs)
• Streets, speed humps & alleys
• Street lighting & traffic signal improvements
• A bike lane plan for Complete Streets' consideration
• Utilization of TIF District funds

If you weren't able to attend the kick-off meeting, but would like to join one of the above groups, please email info@the1stward.com.

+ PB 2023 – 2024

Each year, Participatory Budgeting has grown, in terms of volunteers, submissions from residents, and voting. This year, 1,202 1st Ward residents cast votes for Participatory Budgeting, to urge Alderman La Spata to allocate up to $1,000,000 in discretionary spending ("menu money").

The estimated cost plus contingency for all projects totals around $970,000, which means that pending feasibility review from Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District, and Department of Transportation (CDOT), it is expected that each of these programs can be funded. To ensure quick implementation, the paving items have already been submitted to CDOT for survey. The earlier ward offices submit projects for survey, the more likely it is that they are completed in a given construction season.

In order of preference, 1st Ward residents voted for:

1. Up to $175,000 for an intergovernmental transfer to upgrade Wicker Park Dog Friendly Area (1425 North Damen)
2. Up to $100,000 for an intergovernmental transfer for a new Goethe Elementary School playspace and field (2236 North Rockwell)
3. Up to $100,000 for an intergovernmental transfer to upgrade Park 399 (1420 North Artesian)
4. Up to $120,000 to repave alleys behind 2232 North Western (Western / Campbell / Belden / Lyndale) and 1400 North Western (Western / Artesian / Hirsch / Le Moyne)
5. Up to $115,000 to repave the south sidewalk on 1601 – 1699 West Superior
6. Up to $240,000 to repave 1000 – 1199 North Marshfield and 1500 – 1599 North Bell
7. Up to $120,000 to repave 800 – 999 North Marshfield

One of the benefits of this ballot system also included general infrastructure priorities. Since so many residents voted, this provides an excellent sample of people from across the ward, and 1st Ward Staff can use these priorities for the next year with Alderman La Spata to help balance priorities. For example, with the remaining $500,000 of discretionary infrastructure funds, the importance of street lighting, street resurfacing, and pedestrian bump-outs can be weighed against other infrastructure needs.

1st Ward resident priorities:

• Bike lane development (496 votes)
• Street resurfacing (474 votes)
• Paving pedestrian bumpouts (456 votes)
• Street Lighting (425 votes)
• Alley resurfacing (364 votes)
• Paving sidewalks (356 votes)
• Paving speed humps & reducing speeds (225 votes)
• Adding traffic signal improvements (225 votes)
• ADA mobility improvements (189 votes)
• Curb & Gutter and other paving improvements (163 votes)

Alderman La Spata’s priorities to discuss with CDOT:

• Alderman La Spata has requested data for which areas of the ward have the most concentrated need for street light improvements, and he has also requested allocations from Tax Increment Financing districts to improve street lighting in TIF districts. These projects are in the works.

• CDOT provides a surveying tool that aggregates all pavement complaints made to the City, thereby grading streets on paving quality. 1st Ward staff have been proactively surveying streets in the ward to corroborate these data, and Alderman La Spata now has received maps that demonstrate where potential conflicts with other utility projects are. This will allow the worst quality streets in the Ward with no permitting conflicts to be sent to the Department, so they are hopefully paved in a speedy manner.

• The 1st Ward Office is systemically running through speed hump requests on a first-come, first-served basis, and is consistently surveying resident requests for bump-outs. Based on resident feedback about the importance of speed humps for reducing vehicle speeds, and the relatively low cost of speed humps, neighbor petitions are no longer required for speed humps. Speed hump requests for 2025 and 2026 construction seasons are open.

Wherever possible, Alderman La Spata and 1st Ward staff use available data from the City to inform infrastructure decisions, and it is our hope that by having additional data requests ready for our City departments, we will be able to implement the most needed projects across the ward as quickly as possible.

+ PB 2022 – 2023

Participatory Budgeting for 2022 - 2023 was a huge success; the proposal development process featured more volunteers and volunteer teams than ever, and more 1st Ward residents voted than ever. The completed proposals have been submitted to CDOT for construction survey; below is the most recent update.

California Avenue Protected Bike Lane (323 votes; $375,000)

This project would entail installing a protected bike lane along California Ave. from North Ave. to Diversey Ave. This lane would replace the existing marked lane from Milwaukee Ave. to North Ave. Given the high volume of car traffic and the lack of physical barriers separating bicyclists from drivers, residents have expressed safety concerns over the existing bike lane on N. California Ave. The current bike lane (the section within the 1st Ward) extends from North Avenue to Milwaukee Avenue, and is a marked lane (not buffered or protected). This project would entail both adapting the existing lane to create a protected bike lane, and extending it to the north, to Division Ave. This project could result in the elimination of some street parking.

Status: Submitted to CDOT for construction feasibility and surveying.

Traffic Calming in the 1st Ward (293 votes)

This project would entail the construction of a series of bumpouts at several key intersections across the 1st Ward in order to enhance resident safety. This proposal combined four resident submitted ideas at Bloomingdale / Western; Wood / Paulina; 1300 N Oakley; and California / Cortland.

This project would address resident complaints regarding the speed of vehicle traffic along various residential and commercial streets in the 1st Ward through the installation of a series of concrete bumpouts on several intersections. Concrete bumpouts both give pedestrians more space to avoid oncoming traffic, and slow down vehicle speeds by narrowing lanes at intersections (this effect is known as "traffic calming"). This project would provide traffic calming measures in four priority areas. The first would consist of two concrete bumpouts extending out into Western Ave. at the intersection with Bloomingdale Ave., eliminating some parking and increasing visibility for those entering the major traffic corridor. The second priority area would be the 1300 block of N. Oakley Blvd., where bumpouts would be installed at both entrances to the alley connecting W Hirsch St. and N Oakley Blvd. The third area would be a collection of intersections along Wood St. and Paulina St. (specifically at the intersections of Wood/Julian, Wood/Pierce, Paulina/Le Moyne, and Paulina/Pierce). The final traffic calming measure would be taken at the intersection of California Ave. and Cortland St., where concrete bumpouts would be installed at all four corners of the intersection to reduce speeds and improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.

This project could require the removal of on-street parking where concrete bumpouts would be installed. In the 2023 "Aldermanic Menu", residential street bumpouts cost $15,000 per pair, and arterial street bumpouts cost $50,000 per corner.

Status: Construction survey completed, bump-outs to improve stop sign visibility and narrow street width at intersections will be established at 1800 West Potomac (3 detached bump-outs); 1800 West Crystal (3 detached bump-outs); 1700 W Pierce (2 detached bump-outs); 1700 W Le Moyne (2 detached bump-outs); 1800 W Le Moyne (2 detached bump-outs); 1310 & 1314 N Oakley (2 detached bump-outs). Currently under budget by more than $160,000.

Division / Paulina & Milwaukee / Paulina Improvements (276 votes)

Traffic calming and pedestrian safety improvements at the Division/Paulina and Paulina/Milwaukee intersections. The ward office will work with CDOT to identify and implement traffic calming and pedestrian safety improvements to the two intersections, potentially including but not limited to lighting, signage, and additional crosswalk infrastructure.

Status: CDOT has responded to a traffic study to improve the crosswalk and pedestrian safety at Milwaukee / Paulina, by recommending the establishment of an "eastern leg" of the crosswalk at the existing Milwaukee / Paulina light, as well as improved delineations separating bicycle and auto staging at the intersection. The Department recommends rolling this proposal into the arterial resurfacing of Milwaukee Avenue, which will save $150,000 in "menu" money in 2023. Ald. La Spata will continue to advocate for improvements along this stretch of Wicker Park.

Contraflow Bike Lane on Paulina (270)

On Paulina Street from Grand Avenue to Augusta Boulevard. This project would entail the installation of a neighborhood greenway (bike boulevard) on Paulina St. from Grand Ave. to Augusta Blvd. in order to enable two-way bike traffic. The East Village neighborhood currently only has a single dedicated thoroughfare for North/South bicycle traffic on Wood. A northbound bike lane on Paulina would enable another alternative for cyclists traveling north on a street that does not see as much traffic as Wood. This project would install a bike lane allowing alternative route for cyclists and scooters riding through the area.

Status: Submitted to CDOT for construction feasibility and surveying.

Add Curb Ramps to Wolcott Avenue (225)

Add ramps from sidewalk level to alley level at three locations on SE side of Wolcott. Three sequential curbs on Wolcott just south of Milwaukee create an inaccessible sidewalk for our neighbors on wheels. (beneath the blue line, east side of street, near Walgreens). The sidewalk is a high traffic area of the neighborhood and the adjacent Walgreens is critical for neighbors to retrieve medications. This simple fix to add 3 ramps would make the area a safer place to walk or roll.

Status: Submitted to Dept. of Transportation for construction feasibility and surveying.

Modernize Logan Boulevard Skate Park (218)

The current skatepark was built in 2007 to test the project's viability and community impact. The project was successful. The Phase 1 installation was built with modular, temporary steel/wooden features. This proposal requests funding for Phase 2, where existing modular features would be replaced with standardized, permanent, concrete construction. The Logan Boulevard Skatepark Renovation is essential for retaining the park and its benefits for users. It was designed in partnership with renowned skatepark designers/developers with input from Chicago residents to produce a representative public space that reflects the diversity and number of users it serves. In the ensuing years since Phase 1, the temporary features have deteriorated. The proposal will require an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Park District. Funding will come from a 40/40/20 framework: 40 percent from the Chicago Park District, 40 percent from state and local officials, and 20% through public and private sponsorships.

Status: Working with Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA) and Office of Budget Management (OBM) to procure $100,000 for this project through Aldermanic "menu" funds.