Congestion, Master Plan & Open Space Top Concerns: Lincoln Yards

A newly released survey by the Sheffield Neighborhood Association (SNA) on Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards planned development proposal made public at a community meeting they hosted on Wednesday, September 26 at DePaul University revealed congestion, a master plan of the development and open space and parks are the top three most important community topics.

A whopping 774 out of 883 or 87.7% of the SNA respondents indicated real and viable plans for congestion mitigation “including traffic impact, new bridges, streets, sidewalks and improved traffic and circulation plans” must be provided by the City of Chicago and laid out in detail in the developers proposal in order for the community to be able to support the Lincoln Yards project. 95.25% or 841 of the 883 responses stated it was either important or very important to study and design with congestion mitigation and innovative solutions in mind.

79.4% felt it was very important to have a master plan 'outlining the entire vision and scoe of the development from start to finish' and 94.2% or 832 out of 883 feel having a master plan is important or very important. SNA president, Jim Gramata, discussed the Lakeshore East master plan which was established in 2002 and is still being used as a guide for that area. Gramata discussed the importance of our community knowing the planned development for the entire Lincoln Yards area and without a master plan it would be impossible to approve the planned development.

78.5% or 693 survey responses indicated the importance for details on the open space and parks and whether they are being proposed as public or private. 701 of the 883 stated their demand for a master plan of the entire developer vision which has not been made public showing ‘the entire vision and scope of the development’.

The topic of traffic came up a few times in the top ranked concerns, with community residents indicating their desire for having an independent traffic consultant be hired for comparison with the required developers traffic report to see the traffic impact on surrounding communities. Alderman Brian Hopkins also agreed that an independent traffic study might be in order which he stated would be considered once the current traffic impact study Sterling Bay has commissioned and is being reviewed by CDOT is made public.

Here is a list of the top 10 concerns from the survey.

TOP TEN COMMUNITY CONCERNS

#1 Congestion mitigation & traffic impact

#2 Master Plan & vision of development

#3 Open Space and Riverfront Access

#4 City of Chicago should hire an Independent traffic consultant to conduct an overall Traffic Impact Study

#5 Infrastructure funding details & taxpayer burden

#6 Proper Environmental Cleanup

#7 Make public total development fees contributions from Sterling Bay and the City of Chicago

#8 Limit density bonuses to improve traffic impact

#9 Land-use & Programming solutions

#10 Sequencing and phasing of the entire Sterling Bay development vision in Lincoln Yards

What do you think?