GOOSE ISLAND — New bridges, protected bike lanes, updated traffic signals and other changes are coming to a stretch of Division Street on Goose Island.
The Chicago Department of Transportation is planning a major infrastructure overhaul of a mile-long section of Division from Cleveland Avenue to the Kennedy Expressway.
The project includes replacing the two bridges — one dating from the early 1900s — that carry cars, pedestrians and bikes over the Chicago River and North Branch canal. The city also plans to create additional left turn lanes throughout the corridor and add lighting and landscaping.
Work on the project is expected to begin in late 2024 and last about two years, city planner Soliman Khudeira said during a community meeting Tuesday at the Bucktown-Wicker Park library.
During construction, temporary bridges will be built at each end of Goose Island so traffic can continue unimpeded along Division, officials said.
“We’re looking to improve our traffic flow along the corridor, improve vehicular and pedestrian safety, looking for bus and transit operation improvements, and we’re looking to provide the bicycle accommodations, as well,” said Mike Eichten, a consultant with AECOM and project manager for the overhaul.
The two new Division Street bridges are sorely needed, Eichten and Khudeira told neighbors.
The western bridge that spans the Chicago River dates to 1904 and is “functionally obsolete,” they said. Its central trusses also make the roadway very narrow, creating safety hazards for cars and bikes. The city wrapped up temporary structural repairs on the bridge earlier this month.
In contrast, the new bridge will feature a wider arch design, two westbound traffic lanes and a left turn lane for drivers going south on Elston Avenue.
The current eastern bridge over the North Branch canal is a temporary one dating from 2014, when the city had to install it as an emergency replacement of the dilapidated original.
The new bridge will keep one main traffic lane in each direction plus a left turn lane for drivers turning north on Halsted Street, officials said.
Current plans do not include putting concrete protected bike lanes on the new bridges, Khudeira said.
Besides the bridges, the city plans to remove on-street parking from stretches of Division Street on Goose Island to widen the sidewalks and bike lanes. Officials also are adding signal improvements and left turn lanes to improve the flow of traffic, planners said.
“There are [currently] no left turn lanes on Division,” Khudeira said. “If a truck wants to make a left turn on an intersecting street, they just have to stand in the lane, and cars back up behind them. Our design is to create left turn lanes where vehicles and trucks can stop in that left turn lane safely, and then they make their left.”
But the proposed left turn lanes was among several issues critics raised at the meeting.
Bike riders said they’re worried the added turns, especially at intersections without traffic lights, would create more chances for drivers to hit bicyclists.
They also said they were concerned about the lack of concrete barriers on the new bridges, and that the improvements won’t extend past the Kennedy Expressway. That will leave a gap in protected bike infrastructure between the highway and Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park — the city’s most popular and dangerous bike lane.
“I think it’s going to give new cyclists a false sense of security, and then they’re going to be dumped out at [the] expressway. So I think there’s going to be a lot of crashes,” bike rider Sammy Schneider said after the meeting. “I think CDOT did a really nice job at Belmont and Kedzie, protecting that intersection. So I hope that that’s something we can look forward to.”
Lena Reynolds said she was glad to see the city “moving in the direction” of protected bike lanes in the area, but she agreed the Division project could be better integrated with existing bike routes.
“There’s just like the last connecting points that are really critical, otherwise people are left in really dangerous situations,” Reynolds said. “So that highway stretch is going to be really important going forward.”
Jules Tomko and Jim Shearer, who run commercial production studio Essanay Studio and Lighting Company, 1346 N. North Branch St., on Goose Island, also attended Tuesday’s meeting. Essanay is a few blocks north of Division Street on the Chicago River.
Tomko said he thinks the proposed designs would improve the current streetscape, but he is worried the influx of construction and infrastructure projects will create a traffic nightmare.
Besides the Division Street overhaul, the city also plans to replace the Chicago Avenue bridge over the river between Halsted and Larrabee streets. The bridge will be completely closed to traffic and pedestrians during the project.
At the same time, construction is expected to continue through 2025 on the Kennedy Expressway rehab project, which has slowed highway traffic and led to backups on nearby streets like Milwaukee and Elston avenues, neighbors have said.
And that’s on top of several upcoming developments in the Goose Island area, including the permanent Chicago casino and Halsted Pointe at 901 N. Halsted St.
“During the Kennedy construction, it would take us 15 to 20 minutes for a block and a half to get to Division. It was like the Wild West on Division and North Branch,” Tomko said. “The problem now is for the next two years, traffic is going to suck.”
In response, Khudeira said city planners take surrounding development and roadwork into consideration when planning the timing and phases of projects. Traffic signals can be modified to accommodate changes in car traffic, Khudeira said.
The city’s transportation department is accepting feedback on the Division Street project designs for the next month. You can email Khudeira at soliman.khudeira@cityofchicago.org.
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