Alderman Cardona + CDOT Ignore Residents, Schedule Kostner Parkway Removal
January 19, 2020
by Lee Helmer
Block club captains of 2800-3100 blocks of north Kostner Avenue in Hermosa gathered with residents on Saturday, January 18th at the Astoria Lounge to inform their neighbors of the CDOT + Alderman Cardona approved plan that will be moving forward this spring, despite their opposition. A portion of the plan will tear up thousands of square feet of parkway for carriage walks, an idea that had previously prompted hundreds of letters from residents in opposition.
CDOT has proposed several options over the last few decades, two of which residents agreed could work with the higher-than-average traffic levels and speeding for a narrow two-way street; curb extensions (“bump outs”) and speed monitoring devices that show drivers how fast they are going. These were both presented as recommendations in a November 2019 meeting hosted by Alderman Cardona, along with carriage walks, which the residents had again, voiced against.
Alderman Cardona rescinds a one-way pilot in May 2019 that Kostner residents were in favor of. This public record is available via City of Chicago website.
A month after the November 2019 meeting, block club captains verbally inquired to both Alderman Cardona and a CDOT representative, and were told that plans were moving forward for spring of 2020. Shocked that a decision had been made without being informed, captains have started petitioning to stop the carriage walks from being implemented.
The mounting frustration has erupted in a backlash of comments against the Alderman and his campaign promises, along with a mistrust of CDOT with conflicting studies and recommendations over the decades. One thing is clear; CDOT studies show traffic accidents have risen on this stretch of Kostner over 75% from 2014 to 2019. And despite multiple studies and admission of danger, no city official or department has implemented any changes to increase safety.
CDOT studies show traffic accidents have risen on this stretch of Kostner over 75% from 2014 to 2019
To understand the tipping point from Kostner residents, the 40+ year timeline includes tens of community meetings, planned solutions rescinded, one death and hundreds of thousands of property damage, many include multi-car accidents. Below is a gallery of photos from Kostner accidents.
Photos by Rupert Medina, Jose Sepulveda and Lee Helmer
Prior to the November 2019 CDOT study, residents had been fighting the last several years for a one-way, a change was eventually granted in 2018 as a pilot program by both former Alderwoman Milly Santiago and the City of Chicago Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety. Then, in May of 2019, without a warning to the residents, Alderman Cardona quietly rescinded this action within one month of being inaugurated. While the new Alderman did gather feedback several months later, he stated in the November 2019 meeting, “[former Alderman Santiago] did not finalize it” to make the one-way happen. Cardona failed to mention his signature on the letter to rescind the one-way, which is still in limbo in the Traffic Safety Committee.
Against Carriage Walks
Block club captain Rupert Medina delivers ~200 letters from residents to Alderman Cardona’s office in that state they are against carriage walks being installed on Kostner Ave. Photo by Sean Banaszkiewicz.
“We don’t need carriage walks and the street widened on Kostner to have vehicles even closer to our sidewalks and closer to our homes…”
- Rupert Medina, Kostner Block Club Captain
Captains have now regrouped to funnel their energy into saving what equates to two and a half residential lots of parkway (~8,000 sq ft) against the CDOT Spring 2020 plan of adding carriage walks. A previous quote from CDOT included a $140,000 price tag and was also thumbed down by residents in previous community meetings. With speeding a grave issue, many residents equate making more room for cars to pass through with the same reason that CDOT stated a one-way would not be a good idea: it gives cars more room to speed.
The logistics of carriage walks on a narrow street with limited parkway have only been addressed by CDOT as that it will be “good” and that they will “work around mature trees and light poles.” Residents are not convinced that intermittent parking on curbs would have much effect except to tear up what limited greenspace they have.
Alderman Cardona has stated that aldermanic privilege has been revoked, yet held a straw vote for the Pulaski Corridor Music Venue. When the community results were announced to block the zoning change, residents responded, “Thank you for listening to neighbors!”
For this traffic issue, the Alderman has personally blocked a measure that was approved by the city, then points to CDOT as the decision-maker, ignoring any input from the residents. This shows his inconsistency of using the community vote. If he touts his democratic methods, the residents have already spoken.
Updates
- CDOT letter from January 16, 2020 states parkway will be 2.5 square feet, making the total parkway loss at 8,000 sq ft (previously 6,000 square feet)
- Residents have a march to 31st Alderman Cardona’s office on February 3, 2020
