A self-cleaning public restroom is set to be installed in Wicker Park later this year, marking Chicago’s first standalone automated toilet. The facility will be located at the Polish Triangle, situated at the intersection of Milwaukee, Ashland, and Division streets above the Division Blue Line station. JCDecaux, a company that supplies street furniture such as bus shelters to the city, will provide the restroom.
Alderman Daniel La Spata (1st) has advocated for expanding bathroom access in Chicago. His office has not released specifics about which model will be used or its operational details. Some automated toilets used internationally feature two bowls—one pre-cleaned and ready for use while another is cleaned behind a wall—and include systems that wash and dry the floor between uses.
The new restroom comes at no cost under Chicago’s existing contract with JCDecaux; however, installation and related expenses will be covered by funds from the 1st Ward’s annual menu program. According to Nicholas Zettel, chief of staff for the 1st Ward, $315,659 from the 2025 budget has been allocated for this project, with additional funding planned from next year’s budget.
Zettel did not specify when installation would begin or exactly where within the Polish Triangle it would be placed. However, La Spata stated in his weekly newsletter that it should be operational “by the end of the year.” La Spata is currently on paternity leave.
“Public bathrooms are one of the most popular policy proposals our office has ever seen, from everyday residents and homelessness advocates to members of our chambers of commerce and business community, and everyone in between,” according to La Spata’s newsletter.
Efforts to expand public restrooms in Chicago have been ongoing since 2021 when Aldermen La Spata and Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) introduced a resolution seeking a pilot program for public bathrooms across the city. Supporters argue these facilities are particularly important for parents with young children, unhoused individuals, older adults, and people with disabilities.
A report published by The Tribune in 2021 found there were fewer than 500 locations in Chicago offering free public restrooms without significant barriers such as security checkpoints or client-only restrictions.
“It is clear that we have a need for Chicago to be a more caring place, and one of the ways we can do that is by making sure people are able to use the bathroom whenever they need to,” Zettel said Tuesday. “This is a well-trafficked area for potential users who might need a bathroom break on the way to any number of shops in Wicker Park, a CTA transfer, a walk home, an emergency, or any other number of possible scenarios.”
Some local residents have expressed concerns about cleanliness and safety related to installing an automated restroom at this location. The plan will be discussed during this month’s meeting of the Wicker Park Committee at Nick’s Beer Garden on North Milwaukee Avenue.
Grant Drutchas, president of the neighborhood group Wicker Park Committee, supports expanding access but raised questions about maintenance procedures and whether Polish Triangle is an appropriate site given recent struggles with vacancies and development efforts nearby.
“I’m not sure it’s quite the right location for it as opposed to somewhere along Division [Street] or something like that,” Drutchas said. “Whether it’s going to prevent some of the hopes of making that into something that is just little more attractive to commuters and the public in general.”
The new facility will include time limits on usage duration as well as restricted hours so it cannot be accessed overnight; further details regarding these rules have yet to be announced.
