ENGLEWOOD — Plans to redesign busy street corridors in Englewood are underway, and city officials want neighbors to voice their visions for the neighborhood, including potentially reducing Halsted Street to one lane in each direction.
The Chicago Department of Transportation is working in sections to overhaul long-neglected streets running through Englewood.
Section 1 of the city’s work will fix corroded streets and sidewalks, improve lighting, add community identifiers, renovate the Englewood Plaza and address safety concerns along Halsted Street between 59th and 66th streets.
Section 2 will address similar issues on 63rd Street between Wallace Avenue and Loomis Boulevard.
The upgrades are part of Invest South/West, an initiative to bring developments to West and South side communities. Streetscapes investments are “intended to reactivate neighborhood corridors,” city officials said in an online presentation.
CDOT leaders first met with neighbors in 2021 for feedback on corridor improvements in Englewood.
To address safety concerns along Halsted Street, CDOT officials have proposed reducing Halsted Street to one lane of traffic in each direction through most of the corridor. Single-lane streets reduce speeding and create safe streets by giving pedestrians fewer lanes of traffic to pass through, city officials said.
The plan would also add a curb-protected bike lane that would connect to the Englewood Nature Trail, two “bus bulbs” — or curb extensions — that could boost travel times, widen bus stops and add priority zone lanes for northbound buses at the intersection of 63rd and Halsted street.
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is working with leaders in the 16th Ward to fund a mural on the side of the U.S. Bank building facing the shopping district at 815 W. 63rd St.
Neighbors can submit feedback here to choose “corridor character improvements,” like neighborhood identifiers, design palettes and layout enhancements of Englewood Square.
CDOT will begin the design phase of 63rd Street between Wallace Avenue and Loomis Boulevard later this year, with construction beginning next year, officials said.
CDOT will move into the “construction phase” of the Halsted Street Corridor in 2024.
For now, neighbors can decide if officials should focus on improving pedestrian safety measures, transit flow or protected bike lanes by submitting questions or comments here.
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