The Chicago City Council is considering new rules that would require the Department of Transportation to provide detailed plans before closing bridges for extended maintenance. The proposal, sponsored by Alderman Brian Hopkins of Streeterville and Lincoln Park, advanced through the council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety on Monday and will go before the full City Council on February 18.
The measure comes after several bridges over the Chicago River in Downtown and on the North Side have been closed at the same time for safety repairs. Currently, four bridges—on Lake Street, State Street, Chicago Avenue, and Cortland Street—are shut down for maintenance. The Halsted Street Viaduct at Chicago Avenue is also closed.
The closures have led to significant traffic problems for commuters in affected neighborhoods such as Bucktown, Lincoln Park, and Downtown. In October, Alderman Brendan Reilly described the resulting traffic as a “clusterf—.” Residents have submitted more than 1,000 complaints regarding these disruptions.
Hopkins’ ordinance would require the transportation department to present congestion mitigation plans—including possible detour routes and parking restrictions—to the council’s pedestrian safety committee for any bridge closure expected to last longer than 30 days. Emergency work would be exempt from this requirement but would still need notification to the City Council within 24 hours of starting.
Unlike an earlier draft of the proposal, this version does not require a full City Council vote before a bridge can be closed. Hopkins said requiring such approval was “an unnecessary and draconian measure.”
Hopkins explained that his legislation was prompted by what he saw as insufficient planning when multiple North Side bridges were closed at once last fall: “It was a perfect storm of losing bridge crossing alternatives, and it resulted in a massive amount of traffic congestion and confusion on the North Side of the city that could have been mitigated had there been more careful planning,” he said.
He added: “The ordinance allows us, as members of the legislative branch, to question the professionals in the agency that’s responsible for this, and make sure that they’ve done everything they can in preparation for a major closure.”
At an October budget hearing following public criticism over how closures were handled, Alderman Walter Redmond Burnett noted some projects seemed unexpected: “It feels like a couple of these projects came out of nowhere,” he said while calling for better communication from CDOT. Alderman Timmy Knudsen highlighted difficulties caused by closures in Lincoln Park.
Eight alderpeople representing affected wards wrote to acting CDOT commissioner Craig Turner urging exploration of further traffic mitigation options and possibly expediting construction timelines. Turner responded in November with updates on detour signage near projects at Chicago/Halsted and efforts to refresh pavement markings along Grand Avenue. He stated: “In addition to these changes, CDOT is actively evaluating signal timing at intersections experiencing the greatest congestion and will continue monitoring conditions to identify further improvements.”
Hopkins said better planning should have occurred prior to closing bridges rather than afterward: “We’re talking about a significant project. We’re not talking about filling potholes… We’re talking about the kind of work that results in months and months of closures,” he said. “We’re not doing this for just any project. We’re keeping the bar relatively high.”
