Lake Shore Drive Pedestrian Crosswalk Returns

The city of Chicago has improved the safety of pedestrians moving between Buckingham Fountain and the waterfront in the downtown area. The Queen's Landing crosswalk across Lake Shore Drive has been reopened to pedestrians after being closed for six years. The new crosswalk is equipped with clearly-visible road markings, a traffic signal, and a countdown clock.

In an effort to facilitate vehicle traffic on Lake Shore Drive, the crosswalk was removed in 2005. City workers then erected a series of low concrete bollards connected by heavy chains in an effort to discourage pedestrian traffic from crossing the busy thoroughfare. But people were reportedly jumping over the chains and trying to cross six lanes of traffic in order to get to the other side (especially during events being held at night).

The move is a bit ironic given the reasons why the pedestrian crosswalk was created in the first place. The original Queen's Landing crosswalk dates back to 1988, when it was installed after a 13-year old girl was killed trying to cross Lake Shore Drive. After it was eliminated six years ago, city officials considered trying to build a raised pedestrian bridge across the roadway; but that plan was dropped after $1 million in design and engineering studies. So officials decided to remove the bollards and chains and reopen the crosswalk.

So if you haven't driven on that section of Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago in a while, it is vital that you be aware of the new crosswalk. In addition to the law against running the red light there, it is also illegal to enter a marked crosswalk while a pedestrian is legally present in it. Any auto-pedestrian accident which occurs while walkers have the right-of-way can also result in the driver being named as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit.