The Regional Transportation Authority wants city and state planners to start from scratch and redesign North DuSable Lake Shore Drive with at least one bus priority lane.

RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard on Thursday joined the chorus of voices dissatisfied with the current design proposal, which favors cars over public transit.

Dillard said it’s “a climate issue,” pointing out that tens of thousands of passengers use the bus on North DuSable Lake Shore Drive. A redesign that favors cars over buses would be bad for the environment, he said.

He also pointed out that the current draft contradicts the report of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition team, which he said “cries out for more bus rapid transit.”

“I mean, this is a once-in-50-or-60-year decision,” Dillard said Thursday at the board meeting of the RTA, which is responsible for finances and transportation planning for the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace.

The Redefine the Drive project, which aims to transform DuSable Lake Shore Drive between Grand and Hollywood Avenues, has been in the research and design phase for more than a decade.

“In general, we are at the bottom of the country in terms of the number of miles of bus rapid transit. … So there is still a lot of work to be done to get our message across about the importance of this system, and hopefully CDOT and IDOT will go back to work from scratch,” Dillard said.

Leanne Redden, RTA chief executive, said: “We firmly believe that public transport must be prioritised by including at least one bus lane in all future plans.”

North DuSable Lake Shore Drive Phase 1 Study

Their comments came a day after CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. said he supported critics of the current redesign and a week after the Illinois and Chicago transportation authorities unveiled the latest drafts of their plans to redevelop the waterfront highway.

The transit agency had narrowed down the possible design options to five – four of which included dedicated lanes where buses had priority. But the agency recently said it would likely choose the only option, which would not include any bus lanes. Transit officials said that option still improves bus service by using short, bus-only lanes at entrances and exits.

The RTA had previously advocated redesigning DuSable Lake Shore Drive with a single bus lane or a bus priority lane in each direction.

“Both alternatives provide at least one priority lane for public transit, which is important not only to reduce congestion for all users of the corridor, but also to meet important climate goals for the region and the state,” Dillard and Redden wrote in a July 19 letter to CDOT Commissioner Tom Carney and IDOT Secretary Omer Osman.