The Chicago Pedestrian Plan

In Chicago – as in just about every American city – autos have long dominated our streets and how we think about who uses them, why they exist and what defines them as successful. This summer, CDOT (Chicago Department of Transportation) introduced the Chicago Pedestrian Plan, a document that represents a seismic policy shift. From now on, every street refurbishment effort - from major streetscape projects to minor roadside electrical work - must adhere to a new default modal hierarchy: the needs of pedestrians must come first. This is not a notion espoused by tree-hugging hipsters or the “bicycle crowd”; this is official City of Chicago policy.

"My feeling is that we have to swing the pendulum in the other direction," says Gabe Klein, commissioner of CDOT. "The fact is that the transit user is also a pedestrian, a cyclist is also a pedestrian, an auto user is also a pedestrian. You may not choose the other modes every day, but every day you’re a pedestrian."

"We’re not talking about necessarily closing roads down, making them just for pedestrians," says Janet Attarian, CDOT’s complete streets project director. "It’s about really understanding how you layer safety and placemaking and supporting economic development into this process of designing your roadway."

What does this mean to Mayfair and traffic on Foster Avenue?

For too long, dangerous high-speed traffic on Foster Avenue was viewed as an inconvenient fact of life for neighborhood families to endure. “That’s life in the big city,” those-in-charge would say, “what are you gonna do?” It has been suggested to me personally that the solution is better parenting: teach your children how to cross the street properly - problem solved. The people who usually make this suggestion don’t have children and rarely use the facilities at Gompers Park or Irene Hernandez Forest Preserve.

Based on the principles outlined in the Chicago Pedestrian Plan, we now know there are many effective strategies to calm traffic, such as:

·        traffic tables and raised crosswalks

·        replacing antiquated stoplights with modern equipment including countdown clocks

·        improved striping of crosswalks

·        new signage that is actually legible

·        reducing the speed limit – studies show the odds of surviving being struck by a car at 25 mph are exponentially greater than the odds of surviving being struck by a car at 35 mph.

·        adding additional stoplights and high-visibility crosswalks which align with use patterns and also serve to dampen the tendency for cars to accelerate where stoplights are few and far between   

·        synchronize stoplights along Foster Avenue to effect a slower, safer flow of traffic

We need your help to make pedestrian safety on Foster Avenue a priority for our elected officials. Please consider signing this petition.