Record #: Or2018-304   
Type: Order Status: Passed
Intro date: 6/27/2018 Current Controlling Legislative Body: Committee on Transportation and Public Way
Final action: 7/25/2018
Title: Call for construction and implementation of enclosures at Chicago Ave/Lake Shore Dr underpass to prohibit access during specified hours from July to October
Sponsors: Hopkins, Brian
Topic: CITY DEPARTMENTS/AGENCIES - Transportation
Attachments: 1. Or2018-304.pdf

ORDER

 

 

WHEREAS, The City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6(a); and

WHEREAS, Pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals and welfare; and

WHEREAS, In the first six months of 2018, over 1,000 people have been shot in the City of Chicago;- and

WHEREAS, On the late evening of Sunday, January 2018, a man was shot by a driver in another vehicle and severely injured while driving in the 800-block of North Lake Shore Drive; and

WHEREAS, In addition, on Memorial Day weekend of 2018, a mob of hundreds of brawling teens on Michigan Avenue was stopped by Police Officers, which resulted in a continued police presence in the area the following day; and

WHEREAS, The location of both these instances is nearby the Chicago Avenue underpass beneath Lake Shore Drive, which provides Chicago residents and tourists alike with access to the lakefront trail; and

WHEREAS, Since February 28, 2018, there have been reported incidents of almost thirty larcenies, three criminal sexual assaults and three aggravated batteries all within a two-block radius of the Chicago Avenue underpass; and

WHEREAS, In many of the City's neighborhoods, the underpasses along the lakefront are the only means by which joggers, cyclists and beachgoers are able to cross Lake Shore Drive, and these underpasses are heavily trafficked throughout the day and on weekends during the summer; and

WHEREAS, Underpasses are also notorious locations where residents have been attacked, robbed, or knocked from their bicycles; and

WHEREAS, The ongoing instances of violence near the City's lakefront, especially during late night hours when law enforcement resources are thin and safety cameras are scarce, make it increasingly difficult to ensure the well-being ofthe City's residents and tourists; and

WHEREAS, The City of Chicago needs to exercise its authority to protect and ensure the well-being of its residents and tourists, including the City's beaches and lakefront during the warm summer months; now, therefore

 

 

Alderman Brian Hopkins, 2nd Ward

BE IT ORDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO: That the City Council of the City of Chicago does hereby order the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation and the General Superintendent of the Chicago Park District to construct and implement additional enclosures at the Chicago Avenue/Lake Shore Drive underpass to eliminate access between the hours of 12:00am and 5:00am, from the month of July through the month of October.