John Pickering
John Pickering and Gina Showers are in-house consultants for the Chicago Department of Transportation. They work in the Complete Streets team where they focus on delivering projects that include transit improvements, bikeways, and pedestrian improvements. Our team has helped Chicago create a network of over 500 miles of bike lanes while focusing on low-stress routes, including protected bike lanes and neighborhood greenways.
Přednáška
Archer Avenue in Chicago, Illinois is a critical corridor connecting many southwest side neighborhoods to the central business district and hosts many community destinations. In 2023, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) launched its Neighborhood Bike Network program which focuses on creating a connected network of bikeways to improve access to community destinations. This program convenes a task force of neighborhood stakeholders and elected officials to guide the process, identify outreach opportunities, and gather feedback on corridors. Over the course of the year, CDOT hosted 3 taskforce meetings, attended over 20 community events, and launched a survey. Archer Avenue– an arterial street with 4 travel lanes and 2 parking lanes with a history of high crashes - was consistently flagged. Survey results showed that 80% of neighbors experienced dangerous driving and 2 out of 3 said a lack of safe walking and biking infrastructure is their biggest barrier to getting around. A crash analysis revealed this neighborhood experienced 43% more crashes than other community areas in Chicago.
With this feedback, CDOT proposed a re-envisioned Archer Avenue that includes: a road diet, protected bike lanes, and traffic calming features. This design was proposed at two community meetings where feedback was overwhelmingly positive with many residents expressing a desire to calm the street, slow vehicles, and reduce crashes. Work began in 2025 but quickly became a lightning rod within the community with daily dueling protests for and against the project. Neighbors against the project cited issues with reduced parking and slower travel times while supporters lauded the improved biking conditions and the calmer street. Protests are continuing throughout construction with the project expected to be completed in summer 2026. CDOT is currently working with elected officials to tweak the design, address concerns from unsupportive neighbors, and identify lessons learned.