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Riders and businesses urge CTA to back dedicated bus lanes on Grand Avenue
Summary
Multiple Grand Avenue residents, businesses and rider advocates asked the CTA board to oppose Mayor Johnson’s Grand Avenue reconstruction plan and instead support dedicated CTA bus lanes (shared with bikes) between Ashland and Ogden to preserve and speed service for roughly 7,000 daily riders, speakers said.
Several residents, business owners and rider advocates told the CTA board during public comment that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s planned reconstruction of Grand Avenue would reduce travel lanes used by CTA buses and substantially slow bus service unless the city and CTA prioritize dedicated bus lanes.
Roger Romanelli, representing the Fulton Market Association, said Grand Avenue’s route serves about 7,000 riders a day and more than one million riders a year on the corridor, and warned that removing two travel lanes between Ashland and Ogden could ‘severely delay and obstruct’ bus operations. “If the wrong decision is made to severely delay and obstruct our Grand Avenue buses and to deny dedicated bus lanes…then bus riders will likely be diminished,” Romanelli said.
Several speakers (including Mickey Olguin Rivera, Dan Hollis and Nick Laveras) cited the same concerns and urged the CTA to press the City to convert the two travel lanes to dedicated CTA bus lanes shared with bicycles. A business owner said curbside parking is vital for deliveries and customers and expressed concern about the safety and accessibility impacts of curbside bikeways with concrete barriers.
CTA acting staff thanked speakers, asked them to follow up with planning staff (Molly Poppy was named as the contact), and said the conversation would continue in planning forums. The board did not take an immediate formal position on the city reconstruction plan during the meeting.
