Imagining a Different Kind of Streetscape

When I drive down 95th Street, I envision a street very different from the one we see today. I don't see six lanes – three each direction – I see two. Alternately, I see street cars or bus rapid transit running along the middle two lanes, I see a center median with trees, I see trees lining both sides of the street, I see wider sidewalks, I see angle-in parking.

I also see a denser 95th Street, one without parking moats separating the sidewalk from businesses, one with two and three-story buildings that are home to businesses and residences.

In short, I see a more pedestrian-friendly 95th Street, one more inviting to the surrounding neighborhoods. I see an opportunity to create more office space, more appropriately scaled retail space and more living space for the village. Walking along 95th Street shouldn't feel like walking along an expressway. By that I don't mean that traffic on 95th is whizzing by at expressway speeds; I mean the volume of traffic at certain times of the day approximates expressway traffic volumes.

Quickly, with respect to speed, though, the current scale of the street in proportion to the surrounding area is such that 30 miles an hour seems painfully slow. If the true goal is to lower speed limits, a more closed-in-feeling space – with fewer lanes and more and taller buildings lining the street, plus trees, would create a visual imperative to slow down.

There is an argument to be made that reducing the number of lanes and increasing on-street parking would create a traffic bottleneck, potentially forcing more traffic into the neighborhoods. With respect to the bottleneck, two points: One, maybe 87th Street is a better route for long-range east-west traffic than 95th Street; this is effectively our Main Street through downtown Evergreen Park. Second, I don't find traffic through Beverly or points east to be too terrible, and 95th is two lanes each way with a median a good part of the way between Western and the Dan Ryan Expressway. In terms of traffic detouring off 95th Street and into neighborhoods, there are traffic calming steps – roundabouts, sidewalk extensions at intersections – that will make drivers sufficiently frustrated to abandon the notion that they can cut through the neighborhoods.

Street cars, or bus rapid transit lanes, along the center of 95th Street might cut down on traffic considerably anyway, if it's done right and goes where people need it to go.

Moreover, though, it's fine for me to sit here and write that I see a "different" 95th Street. I have covered urban planning and design for years as a journalist; my wife studied urban planning and policy. I think it's interesting and I enjoy reading about it. The same isn't true for everyone. So to give you an idea of the kinds of things I see in my mind when I drive down 95th Street, I've included some images from this site, ReBurbia.com. Specifically, I pulled these from the Urban Sprawl Repair Kit design competition page entries from Galina Tahchieva.

One rendering shows how a restaurant island like, say, the White Castle at 2555 W. 95th Street, could be screened from the street, making for a more walkable environment, while still providing parking and access. Another shows how a strip center like the one between Francisco and Mozart on 95th could be dressed up and made more contextual and useful. And a third shows the possibility for a corner gas station, or a repair shop such as the one at 95th and Pulaski.