Come give feedback on the Lincoln Avenue corridor!

by Michelle Stenzel

Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park: Love it? Hate it? Meh? Now's your chance to share your opinions about what's working and what's not, and to provide ideas for improving that street.

Artwork like this mosaic adds an element of interest to Lincoln Avenue sidewalks. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

The Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce is working on crafting a plan to guide improvements to Lincoln Avenue from Webster to Diversey. This important Lincoln Park corridor will be undergoing significant changes in the next few years, given the upcoming redevelopment at the Children's Memorial site and other large construction projects, so it's a good time to assess the street's assets and liabilities. They're seeking feedback about the public way conditions, transportation options, mix of businesses, the state of the buildings, and more. (continues -->)

Bike boxes, curb bump outs and more planned for Lincoln and Halsted near Children's Memorial site

by Michelle Stenzel

The final plans for the Children's Memorial site have been released and approved by the city's Chicago Plan Commission. All documents are available for viewing via links provided on Alderman Michele Smith's website. I've reviewed them and will highlight some of the positive changes that are planned for biking and walking.

BIKEWAYS

The documents include plans for continuous bike lanes on Halsted and Lincoln along the project site. Below is a document included in the plans, over which I've added green highlighting to make the lanes more visible. 

McCaffrey Interests' Planned Development exhibit, with my green highlighting added.

A few things to note: 

Opportunity is knocking: Follow up thoughts on the Children's Memorial redesign

by Michelle Stenzel

I attended the latest community meeting on the Children’s Memorial Hospital redevelopment site last week. More than 500 people came to hear the presentation by architect Joe Antunovich of Antunovich and Associates laying out the newest plan. 

There was a very big turnout of people at the Children's Memorial Redevelopment community meeting on January 14, 2013. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Although there were some concerns expressed about the heights of the proposed buildings, most community members spoke in support of the plan. You can read more coverage about the meeting and further opinions on the plan on DNA Info Chicago, Streetsblog Chicago, and Transitized.

We provided our opinions on the new plan last week based on the presentation posted online. Today we're adding just a few further thoughts that have materialized through the community meeting. (More -->)

Our thoughts on the new Children's Memorial site plan

by Michelle Stenzel

A new proposed plan has been released for redevelopment of the Children's Memorial Hospital site, and we recently reviewed the proposal to evaluate its design in terms of walking, biking, transit and public spaces. It's a large site with many facets to the plan, and you should review the PDF of the presentation, which you can download from Ald. Michele Smith's web page, or attend the community presentation on Tuesday evening (January 14, 6:30 PM at DePaul Student Center). 

View of the new Children's Memorial proposal toward the southeast, with Lincoln Avenue on the right.
(All images in the post are from McCaffrey Interests presentation PDF unless otherwise noted)

The design of all the new buildings looks very nice! The external design of the new buildings is bright, airy, clean and modern. The plans call for preservation of historic buildings worth preserving, and lots of retail right where it's needed. (More -->)

Bike parking, CTA service and other suggestions for the Children's site

Dear Alderman Smith,

You have expressed that the redevelopment of the Children’s Memorial site should be environmentally friendly. An important part of making a residential and commercial site sustainable is encouraging people to use bicycles, public transportation, and other sustainable modes of transportation. In order to make those choices as convenient as possible, we suggest the following:

BICYCLE PLANNING

Indoor bicycle parking considerations:

Residents of multi-unit housing need to be given an indoor, secured area where they can lock their bikes overnight or for the season, and know that it is safe from theft.

The site should provide generous amounts of secure indoor bicycle parking that can be accessed with relative ease from the street.

Outdoor bicycle parking considerations:

The new site is planned to have 85,000 square feet of commercial space, including potentially a large health club facility, in addition to restaurants, coffee shops and retail outlets. This will attract multitudes of visitors daily, in addition to employees of the business. 

 We think residents and visitors to the redeveloped Children's Memorial site would love a covered bike shelter like this one in Portland, Oregon. (Photo via CC by Flickr user Thomas Le Ngo)

In order to encourage employees and patrons to ride bicycles to the site, there should be plenty of well-placed outdoor bike racks near all the entrances/exits of the development, in particular near the retail areas and the planned health club.

Thoughts on "Lincoln Park Plaza" at the Children's Memorial site

by Michelle Stenzel

Recently, Alderman Michele Smith held the latest of several community meetings to facilitate communications between all parties about the ongoing design of the now-vacated Children's Memorial Hospital site at Lincoln, Fullerton and Halsted. I encourage you to review the video of the meeting and the PowerPoint presentation on this link to her newsletter in order to get the complete overview of the current proposal.

Here's what the site would look like when completed, as viewed from the north, on Lincoln Avenue approaching Fullerton. (All images in this post are taken from the presentation, prepared by architects Antunovich Associates, SOM, and developers McCaffrey Interests.)

More after the jump.

Planning for change at Children's Memorial

In June 2012, Children's Memorial Hospital will be shuttering its site at the intersection of Lincoln and Fullerton, and moving to its new Streeterville home. Plans are already getting underway for redevelopment of the six-acre site, which includes not only the main white brick building, but many of the smaller buildings immediately surrounding it. 

McCaffrey Interests is the developer and Antunovich Associates will be the architects. For an overview of the project and an aerial map of the entire site, see this article in The Architect's Newspaper.

(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Alderman Michele Smith will hold a town hall meeting at Children's Memorial on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 6:30 pm in the Bigler Auditorium, to allow McCaffrey Interests to introduce themselves to the community, discuss the impact of the development on the surrounding area, and gather initial community input. All members of the public with an interest in the project are encouraged to attend. (Full details from Alderman Smith's newsletter below. Sign up for the newsletters on her website.)

Bicyclist and cars on Lincoln Avenue at the current Children's Memorial Hospital site. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Bike Walk Lincoln Park will be at the town hall meeting. This is a big site that has the potential for being the newest jewel of Lincoln Park. Although it has been beneficial having a world-class pediatric hospital in our neighborhood all these years, the chance to begin anew raises exciting possibilities. We've heard people speak longingly about putting in an arts venue, a boutique hotel, or a permanent marketplace like Pike Street market in Seattle.

We'll be providing Alderman Smith with our recommendations for making sure that whatever is ultimately built is accommodating to bicyclists and pedestrians, and that includes functional details as well as aesthetic. 

The recommendations will include some things to avoid, like long blank walls that "deaden" the sidewalk space and discourage walking. Also, let's not repeat the mistake of designing the site with truck loading docks on Lincoln that force pedestrians and bicyclists into car traffic.

Truck docks and loading zone on Lincoln Avenue at Children's Memorial Hospital. (Photos: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Our recommendations will also include plenty of "do's", of course. This busy intersection is near DePaul University, the Fullerton El stop, and all the theaters, bars and eateries up and down Lincoln Avenue. It has the potential for becoming a new "town center" for Lincoln Park, with new retail and restaurants at street level. 

Let's make sure that people are encouraged to arrive on foot, on bikes, and on public transit. The sidewalks should be wide enough to allow for plenty of room for purposeful walking as well as for strolling, with plantings and benches that give pedestrians a place to relax. 

Halsted and Lincoln are important bicycle commuting routes: It would be great to repaint the bike lanes, perhaps widen them, maybe even make them protected lanes. The new site should have plenty of bike racks, maybe even covered bike parking. 

The busy intersection of Halsted, Fullerton and Lincoln needs better accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Nearby bus stops on Halsted and Fullerton should be upgraded from the current "pole in the ground" to having a bench and a shelter. The six-legged intersection of Lincoln/Halsted/Fullerton is the 11th most dangerous in the city for pedestrians, and it should receive full evaluation to make it safer for those crossing it on foot or on bike. 

Details like these matter. Now is the time to make your voice heard. Someone once said that it takes a place to build a community, and it takes a community to build a place. Let's make this a great one.

* This post was edited on September 13, 2011 to reflect that Antunovich Associates will be the architects, and not HOK, as previously reported.

________________________________________________________

Town Hall Meeting Children's Memorial Hospital Development September 14, 2011 6:30 p.m. Bigler Auditorium at Children's Memorial Hospital 2300 Children's Plaza I've promised that the development process for the Children's Memorial site will be transparent and data driven.  That means we need to understand the impact Children's has on the neighborhood today so we can compare it to the impact of any future proposal.  I've asked Children's Memorial and the new developer, McCaffrey Interests, to bring this information to you: Impact of the hospital on our community today Impact on revenue for local businesses that we patronize Current "base line" traffic data Review of community input to date from HOK, which held three community meetings in 2009 Introduction of McCaffery Interests, the developer of the site, and their work both locally and nationally My requirements for community feedback on the site's development plans as they unfold Timeline for consideration of the development plans Your thoughts on future development plans We look forward to seeing you on September 14th! Please note: NO DEVELOPMENT PLAN will be presented - this meeting is a review of work to date, and important information for the community.   *The entrance to Bigler Auditorium is accessible from the main hospital driveway, directly across from the main entrance.