By: Arfat Muhammad (Senn Senior)
The city and state’s transportation agencies have worked since 2013 on the Redefine the Drive plan to reconstruct DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Dusable Lake Shore Drive between Hollywood and Grand Ave is one of the older streets in the area. Much of it was built in the 1930s, and now potholes and other general maintenance is falling behind.
“It’s very disappointing that the city is not being constructed and maintained well after how much taxes we pay,” Motorist Steven said.
The city has planned a new redesign which will set 11-foot-wide lanes, a common size on arterial streets and a foot shy of highway-sized lanes. Lake Shore Drive could get bus-only lanes and tolls after the new rebuild.
The city and state’s transportation plans for the redesign have been floated in recent years, including tunneling DuSable Drive under Oak Street Beach or adding acres of lakefront space to help smooth out its infamous S-curve.
Currently there are five options for a redesigned drive. They all include express lanes and bus lanes. While construction on the two lanes will leave them closed, other lanes will remain open for drivers.
“I’m really excited and can’t wait to see how the busiest Lake Shore Drive will look like in a couple years,” Motorist Adrian said.
Construction could begin as soon as 2025 after funding is gathered.
In the mean time can’t they clean up the curve at
Oak street north bound and put some solid barrier
Instead of the broken chunks that are there now