Grid Chicago Interviewing Aldermen on Sustainable Transportation

Public transportation and moving towards being bike-friendly are important factors in what makes Chicago livable. There are some organizations like the Center for Neighborhood Technology and some individuals who work for progressive, sustainable transportation like walking, biking and using public transit to avoid the automobile and reliance on fossil fuels.

Grid Chicago is a blog a blog by John Greenfield, author of Vote With Your Feet, and Steven Vance, author of Steven Can Plan. The blog is launching a project to interview all 50 aldermen about sustainable transportation, which is described as being a thoughtful must-read for people who want to vote with their minds, not with their feet, or gut or another irrational part of their human beings. They are also offering a prize for readers who vote for which alderman should be interviewed next.

Do you know what your alderman’s views on sustainable transportation, bike routes, pedestrian safety, or whether he or she ever takes public transportation? So far, the list of interviewee aldermen includes: Ameya Pawar (47th Ward), Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward), Danny Solis (25th Ward), Walter Burnett Jr. (27th Ward), and Sandi Jackson (7th.)

Greenfield’s research has discovered: Ald. Jackson has plans for water taxis between the new Lakeside development and downtown as well as a “velo campus” proposal.

Ald. Solis supports a protected bike lane on 18th between Canal and Clark.

Meanwhile, Ald. Waguespak shows a plan for the reconfiguration of dreaded Damen/Elston/Fullerton intersection.

Ald. Pawar has retooled the Lincoln Avenue project to include green infrastructure like permeable pavers and bioswales (plantings that help take pollutants out of runoff), and Ald. Burnett, is the “city’s most bike-friendly alderman and a former board member with the Active Transportation Alliance.”