It’s finally happening Chicago, some of the streets that were shut down to accommodate outdoor dining for restaurants are becoming permanent people-friendly pedestrian streets.
Pedestrian streets are a bit different here in Chicago, with it not being a street where pedestrians can travel on freely without the threat of motor vehicles, but with it referring to a specific type of zoning designation intended to “Preserve and enhance the character of streets and intersections that are widely recognized as Chicago’s best example of walkable retail corridors”. This includes the banning of car-centric land uses like strip malls, drive-throughs, and car washes.
The two new streets being made pedestrian streets are Fulton Street and Randolph street over in the west loop. The two streets have seen a significant amount of change over the past two years with favor being placed more to pedestrians than cars already.
There are a bunch of new specifications for the streets, all aimed to make them more enjoyable for pedestrians, so if you want to know more about these changes, how the streets might look in the coming year, or want to know other pedestrian streets around the city, head on over to the main article here.