Spring 2023 Update

The North DuSable Lake Shore Drive (NDLSD) Project Team has been busy over the past six months and would like to share updates about recent and upcoming project activities.

Shoreline Protection Video and Study Spotlight

We often receive questions about current and future lake water levels and how the project team is considering climate resiliency. A major component of the NDLSD project is to provide improved shoreline protection measures that address these issues. We have produced a 3-minute video to show how we have been developing and testing potential shoreline protection measures (including creating a scale model of a key section of the lakefront in a wave tank!) that may ultimately be incorporated into the corridor design. We have also prepared a Study Spotlight to review this topic.

Watch the Shoreline Protection Video here!

New Visualizations

What will it look like while walking, running, or bicycling along the north lakefront?

How will it feel to wait for the bus along Inner Drive?

To help answer some of these questions and better illustrate the potential user experience along the north lakefront, we have created over twenty new visualizations. These incorporate input from the Summer 2022 Access and Experience at the Lakefront Survey, along with the Public Life Study. Thank you to everyone who participated in these efforts to improve the corridor design through better placemaking. Please take a look on the project website, and we hope these visualizations help with envisioning the future of the north lakefront!

Level 3 Screening

The project team has been continuing to work through the Level 3 Screening process on the five remaining corridor-wide alternatives (fall 2020 handout linked). We will provide results from this screening at the next corridor-wide public meeting, currently expected to take place in fall 2023. At this meeting, a Preferred Alternative will be recommended.

After a Preferred Alternative is identified, the project team will continue to advance more detailed community-specific design decisions based on public input.

As the project team continues through the Level 3 Screening process, we would like to share two new Study Spotlights that report results of the Level 3 screening analyses on Safety and Environmental Criteria.

Project Study Group Coordination

The NDLSD Project Study Group includes Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Chicago Park District (CPD). Since the study began the project team has held over 100 meetings with CTA and CPD. Over the past six months, regular meetings have been held with each agency to review the remaining Level 3 screening analyses with the goal of selecting a Preferred Alternative in 2023.

This ongoing coordination is also crucial to ensure that the corridor design prioritizes park access and connectivity along with transit needs throughout the study area.

Did You Know?

The project team has held over 70 stakeholder meetings since the study began. We appreciate the time that many people have given to these focused discussions with local individuals, organizations, institutions, and agencies.

These meetings have been separate from Task Force, Community and Public Meetings and provide the opportunity to discuss specific corridor locations and issues. These meetings have included: local residents, business associations, institutions, trail and park community groups, elected officials, public safety / first responders, and more.

Upcoming Activities

The next public meeting is expected to take place in fall 2023. During the meeting, we will present the Level 3 Screening process and results and look forward to your input. We will also share results from the Access and Experience at the Lakefront Survey and Public Life Study, and review how your feedback shaped placemaking concepts throughout the corridor and will be integrated into the design moving forward. A Task Force meeting will be held prior to this meeting.

As always, we appreciate your involvement in the study and helping us to Redefine the Drive!

Sincerely,

The North DuSable Lake Shore Drive Project Team

Please stay up to date with the project with the social media links below and our website: www.northdusablelakeshoredrive.org

[email protected]