Complete Streets workshop huge success

By Sojung Choi

Last Friday (the 13th) held out good luck for everyone that attended our free Complete Streets Workshop.

We invited leaders throughout Chicagoland to guide their conversations around what complete streets could mean for their own communities. Members from the Chicago Police Department and representatives from more than ten community development corporations (roughly 50 participants) throughout Chicagoland all attended.

Complete Streets in Chicago is part of a growing national movement that is stirred by the idea that streets should be designed with all of its potential users in mind. Our workshop geared participants towards envisioning what it would take for their street planning to prioritize the safety and accessibility of all of its users.

Guests included organizers from LISC's New Communities Program, CLOCC's vanguard communities, CDOT, the Chicago Park District, and various other community based institutions. LISC’s NCP, The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) and the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) gave presentations touching on various topics to inform and provoke discussion about the challenges and opportunities to creating Complete Streets.

Janece Simmons from The West Humboldt Park Development Council commented on the importance of equipping people with the tools they need, “The Complete Streets Summit was informative and thought provoking. The West Humboldt Park community worked on a plan with CDOT several years ago to design the Streetscape for Chicago Avenue between Kedzie and Pulaski. Unfortunately, no one on our team had the tools that we now possess as a result of this conference; our design would have gone beyond beautification if we had. Every community should be abound with these visionary tools so that planning and design is more complete and encompassing of all types of traffic (car, pedestrian, biking) needs.”

Some pictures of the day’s highlights:

• Luann Hamilton gave us an update of the Chicago Department Of Transportation's efforts at implementing Complete Streets in Chicago. Luann encouraged community feedback and participation in making our streets safer.
• The Complete Streets Activity provided participants with an opportunity to see both the challenges of and benefits to creating Complete Streets. A special shout out to Katie Tully for developing a great activity.

Check out some more pictures from the workshop on our Facebook page:

The Workshop was sponsored by Active Trans, CDOT, CLOCC's Healthy Communities Working Group, LISC and Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities.