Plans to overhaul Chicago Avenue with a protected bike lane and other upgrades are getting a big federal boost, as the city has secured $10.06 million for the project from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

A map of proposed upgrades to the Chicago Avenue business corridor. Credit: City of Evanston

The Chicago Avenue Multimodal Corridor Improvements Project has been in the works since 2020, and consultant A. Epstein & Sons is currently completing the second of three phases of pre-construction engineering. The project will extend the street’s existing two-way bike lane that ends at Davis by 1.9 miles to the city’s border with Chicago, as well as upgrade the roadway itself and surrounding infrastructure like traffic signals, bus stops, sidewalks and crosswalks.

“The Chicago Avenue project is a huge investment in Evanston’s transportation network,” City Engineer Lara Biggs wrote in a Friday news release announcing the federal grant. “By prioritizing safety and accessibility, we are creating a corridor that serves everyone, whether you walk, bike, take transit, or drive.”

The federal funds add to a $3 million grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) awarded to the city in May. Taken together, the $13 million total covers more than 90% of the project’s estimated cost of $14 million. A staff memo from September 2024 lists the city’s Capital Improvement Fund, Sewer Fund and the Chicago-Main TIF district as other potential sources to round out the project’s budget.

The city plans to start construction “in partnership with IDOT” in 2028, according to Friday’s news release. Despite being years away, public discourse on the project briefly flared in December 2024, when some residents and business owners along the corridor voiced concerns over the bike lane’s potential impact on street parking.

In response, the project’s designers modified the bike lane’s layout to preserve existing parking spaces and add two new ones along the covered corridor. The Downtown Evanston business district has also publicly endorsed the plan.

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