Traffic Flow Changes Proposed for Glenwood Avenue

A community meeting was held Oct. 1 in a parking lot at the intersection of West Arthur and North Glenwood Avenues to discuss potential modifications to the traffic patterns on the section of North Glenwood bounded by West Devon Avenue and West Pratt Avenue.

The meeting was conducted by Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) and two members of the Chicago Department of Public Transportation. During the meeting, the CDOT members summarized the provisions of their plans, and Hadden answered attendees’ questions and concerns about the plans.

Hadden said she has been receiving complaints about North Glenwood Avenue traffic, primarily via email, since she took office in 2019. Hadden and the CDOT members discussed two plans they have collaborated on, each of which presents a different solution to citizens’ traffic complaints.

One plan calls for adding traffic calming measures, such as speed humps and curb extensions, while keeping West Glenwood a two-way street. The other plan proposes converting West Glenwood into a one-way street which directs traffic northbound and adding a contraflow bike lane allowing bikes to move both north and south.

“I think both of the options have their merits,” CDOT member Calvin Graham said. “Both of the options have their negatives, and part of working on infrastructure in the city is that we have to make decisions that aren’t always a complete good or a complete bad.”

Hadden said she held an in-person meeting in 2022 at the same parking lot as the Oct.1 meeting. Since then, Hadden and CDOT have continued to aggregate and weigh complaints and community feedback leading up to the Oct. 1 meeting, the final in-person meeting about the North Glenwood traffic issue, according to Hadden. 

North Glenwood Avenue measures 30 feet across, making it relatively narrow for a two-way street and only allocating each traffic lane eight feet of width, according Graham. This has created a high frequency of sideswipes as well as an uptick in front-to-front vehicle collisions, according to data from a crash analysis of Glenwood Avenue conducted from 2018 to 2023.

Graham said if Hadden decides to convert North Glenwood into a one-way street, the single traffic lane will be 10 feet wide, which he said is typical of most lanes in Chicago. He said this means converting North Glenwood to one-way will solve many of the safety concerns arising from the street’s narrowness.

Graham also said if North Glenwood remains a two-way street, the width of each traffic lane won’t change, so side sweeps and front crashes will remain a threat. 

However, proposed traffic calming measures, specifically speed humps and curb extensions, will increase pedestrian safety by lowering the speed of oncoming traffic and lowering the distance pedestrians must cross to safely reach the other side of the street, according to Graham.

“Some of those would be involved with the one-way conversion,” Graham said. “With the bike infrastructure and the way that those interact with the street, there will be a little bit less of the potential for these traffic calming elements, and so you’ll have more width for the northbound traffic.”

While deliberating the best solution to North Glenwood’s traffic problems, Hadden and CDOT are weighing the benefits of a wider single traffic lane against the benefits of more abundant traffic calming measures in the presence of two narrower lanes. However, further traffic and pedestrian concerns complicate the issue.

For instance, Hadden said if North Glenwood becomes a one-way street, the removal of southbound traffic on North Glenwood will increase traffic on nearby southbound streets, with North Newgard Avenue experiencing the largest increase in traffic — an estimated 20% increase — since it’s the nearest southbound street to North Glenwood.

Hadden said she will make the final decision between the two proposed plans for North Glenwood before the end of 2024. Until then, Rogers Park residents will be able to share their opinions about the traffic plans in a digital survey posted on the ward’s website. Hadden said she will use the survey feedback to help make her final decision.

Despite the complexity of the issue and the many variables involved, Hadden said she feels optimistic about her ability to meet the decision deadline.

“I think we’ve got a lot of info,” Hadden said. “There’s a couple more things that are kind of outstanding, but I think once we get some of the details on the traffic calming on Newgard, I think we’ll have enough information for community input, and that will give me enough information to make a final decision.”