Council approves police substation and several safety and multimodal street projects

Council approved multiple capital projects intended to improve public safety, mobility and neighborhood access.

The council authorized Ordinance 1430‑2026 to contract with Elford, Inc. as construction manager at risk for a new east police substation (Police Substation No. 6), allocating up to $10 million from safety GO bond funds. Council said the facility will support patrol operations, a community response team, detective operations and will include a community meeting room and a storm‑shelter ICC‑500 space.

Separately, the public service committee moved forward two multimodal street safety projects. Ordinance 1096‑2026 will appropriate $1.4 million in ODOT Highway Safety Improvement Program funds plus bond proceeds to build a shared‑use path on Ein Road (Greater Hilltop) connecting South Wayne Avenue through Hiltonia Park to White Hawthorne Avenue to reduce pedestrian and bicycle exposure in a high‑injury corridor. Ordinance 1464‑2026 funds the Mount Vernon Avenue multimodal corridor in the King‑Lincoln/Bronzeville area and includes protected bike lanes, bus islands, bumpouts and sidewalk improvements; preliminary quick‑build interventions in 2021 were credited with crash reductions.

Council and department staff emphasized community engagement and phased construction schedules. Several projects were tied to grant deadlines and included emergency or contingent loan approvals through state authorities where required. Construction start dates were described as imminent for some projects, with phased completion timelines shared for each corridor.

Next steps: Departments will finalize contracts, complete permitting and begin phased construction this summer where noted.