State, City DOT Agreement Gives Chicago More Control Over Streets

Across the country, city streets are subject to state control. Whether it’s Philadelphia; Richmond, Virginia; or San Antonio, conflicting priorities between municipal transportation departments and their state counterparts is often cited as one of the biggest barriers to pedestrian safety improvements. Chicago is taking a step toward mending that relationship.

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) recently reached an agreement that could expedite safety improvements along some of the most heavily traveled streets in Chicago. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) preapproves several pedestrian and cyclist safety features so that they wouldn’t be subject to comprehensive IDOT review prior to installation. 

“This MOU is an important step forward in creating safer streets for our most vulnerable road users, such as children, people with disabilities, older adults and people walking, biking, and rolling,” said CDOT Commissioner, Gia Biagi.

In the last decade, bike and pedestrian fatalities have made up an increasing share of traffic deaths in Chicago. In a piece for Streetsblog, Colin Anderson plotted data showcasing that the supermajority of pedestrian fatalities occurred in the crosswalk, and that cyclists were at higher risk in city-designated bike lanes, suggesting that “the bike infrastructure that currently exists on these routes isn’t sufficient for protecting bike riders.”

Approximately 400 miles of road in Chicago are maintained by CDOT but owned by IDOT, subjecting them to the uniform standards of the latter. Some of these state-owned roads are adjacent to schools, others are quiet, residential streets or intersections teaming with retail and restaurants. Attempts by CDOT to champion features like pedestrian islands, protected bike lanes, and curb extensions in these places generally required IDOT approval, and often didn’t get it. In one instance, “IDOT officials objected to the pedestrian islands, citing a state regulation that required street designs that make it easy for the drivers of 60-foot semi trucks to make turns onto state roads,” Streetsblog reported.

Many like Erica Shroeder, Director of Public Information for CDOT, are hopeful that the MOU will empower nuance on Chicago’s streets and maybe even ripple across the country. By eliminating current mandates to design state roads around large vehicles and reducing the minimum lane width to 10 feet, this new framework will “allow the city to design and self-certify curb cuts and other sidewalk improvements to make streets more walkable and accommodating for non-vehicular traffic.” 

In fact, Shroeder points out that the agreement has already catalyzed action. Irving Park Road, on which longtime 47th Ward volunteer Peter Paquette was fatally struck last June, is the first to undergo a makeover.

Irving Park Road, Chicago. (Source: Google Maps.)

Activists have long lobbied for safety improvements along the five-lane road devoid of stoplights and pedestrian islands, but IDOT remained opposed, citing statewide standards. Now, six intersections along the road are slated for curb extensions, concrete refuge islands, and additional crosswalks. “Getting IDOT to agree to three new crosswalks on a road they treat like a highway is huge,” said 47th Ward Director of Development Josh Mark, in response to the plans.

Ald. Martin, why do we need 5 lanes of traffic and two parking gutters on this road? This encourages reckless driving.

It would seem appropriate to shrink this down to a single lane in each direction, with parking-protected bike lanes pic.twitter.com/yh6uqAYPmr

— michael ⚛️🪙🏗🚇🚸 (@cornoisseur) June 13, 2022

Groups like the Active Transit Alliance likewise agree that this memorandum is a step toward safer streets. However, their celebration is tempered by the reality that this agreement is ultimately not legally binding for either CDOT or IDOT. “Ultimately, IDOT still has jurisdiction over its own roadways. So we will continue to monitor projects across the city to make sure that the state doesn’t veto infrastructure that gives priority to people over semi-trucks,” they note in their press release.

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