Two-Way Bike ‘Greenway’ Considered on School Street

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) plans to meet with the Chicago Department of Transportation’s commissioner next Thursday to discuss preliminary plans for transforming West School Street into a two-lane bike corridor, his special projects director confirms.

The development is a part of both the alderman and CDOT’s plan to create an east-west biking corridor from Lake Michigan, through Lake View and into Roscoe Village.

Sougata Deb is the director of infrastructure and special projects with the alderman’s office. He says by limiting the traffic on School Street with a new two-way bike lane, the project could kill two birds with one stone.

“We have two proposals, and (Tunney and I) are going to meet with Commissioner Klein next Thursday,” Deb said. “… One of the proposals is where you take a one-way street and make it a two-way bike lane. With that, you have a traffic calming effect. I think people avoid traffic on Belmont by using School Street, and some neighbors have voiced concerns about the traffic on such a residential street, especially families with children.”

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Creating the two-lane biking corridor would essentially limit driving on School Street to local homeowners, thus drastically reducing traffic. In addition, Deb said parking would not be compromised with this kind of development.

The alternative to the plan is one Tunney mentioned during a November West Lake View Neighbors meeting: putting one lane for biking toward the lake on School Street, and another going west to Roscoe Village on Roscoe Street. Residents were either unhappy about adding lanes to an already narrow street, or unhappy about the project in general.

“What is the point in residential areas?” asked Patch reader Chiramblings in the article’s comments. “School isn't that busy, I bike down it all the time and have little problem. Is this just a waste of resources?”

"...It’s more than just lanes. We’d have curb bump-outs putting a squeeze on traffic, and different signage.”

The two-way bike corridor down School Street would connect bikers with already bustling lanes running north and south, like North Halsted Street, Clark Street and Lincoln Avenue. However, the proposed lanes would be more similar to the Berteau Greenway in Ald. Ameya Pawar’s (47th) ward.

“It’s a fairly new program in the city,” Deb said. “At least on School Street, the concern is the traffic issue. That’s really an added bonus to get that traffic calmed down. And it’s more than just lanes. We’d have curb bump-outs putting a squeeze on traffic, and different signage.”

Deb said the next step is to meet with CDOT to talk about funding. Because both School and Roscoe streets need resurfacing, officials hope to strike up a deal where the ward would pay for resurfacing if CDOT helped fund biking infrastructure improvements.

The project is still in its preliminary stages, Deb said, with a traffic study by CDOT and a community forum in the works.

“There would be a community process to make sure everyone’s comfortable with the idea,” Deb said. “And we’ve gotten great feedback on it so far. We talked with people on School from Ashland to Southport, and they were very supportive.” 

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