LOGAN SQUARE – Neighbors around Palmer Square Park criticized their city council after construction crews began removing parking spaces and bike lanes for a project that was supposed to be on hold until next year. They said they were given no warning that construction was planned in the area.

As part of a traffic construction project for Palmer Square, parking spaces on both sides of the park would be redesigned to be diagonally spaced, crosswalks and bike lanes would be repaved and painted, and the number of lanes on both sides would be reduced to two to calm traffic and accommodate parking needs at the Old Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church, 3062 W. Palmer Square, said Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st).

The project to redesign the plaza was the result of a traffic study conducted in the area when it was still in the 32nd District. La Spata’s office has received complaints about speeding drivers in the plaza for two years, particularly after a driver struck a young girl crossing the street at the corner of Shakespeare Avenue and Humboldt Boulevard.

At the same time, Serbian church members demanded more parking spaces, said La Spata.

City engineers have produced a design they believe meets both needs, he said. Renderings obtained by the Block Club last year show plans to add nearly 60 diagonal points on each side of the park and move the center lane markers. The project would cost $145,000 from the county’s meal plan.

But La Spata pulled the plug on the funding after transportation officials told him more paving work was needed to make the roads smoother, driving up the cost to about $222,000. La Spata said there isn’t enough money for the county this year, so the project is on hold at least until next year, he said.

Believing the project could still go ahead, construction crews last week began removing parking and bike lane markers and putting up no-parking signs in Palmer Square between Humboldt and Kedzie, shocking neighbors who live around the park.

“Last week, my office and I were honestly as surprised as anyone else when we heard that the Chicago Department of Transportation was out there picking up old paint,” La Spata said.

Representatives of the Department of Transportation and La Spata blamed a miscommunication between the city and the contractor for the accidental work, which is currently stalled. The bike lanes and traffic markings have been repainted.

La Spata’s office stopped the work immediately after the error was noticed. However, a group of neighbors said they felt snubbed by the city council and wanted more transparency and citizen engagement in the future.

The group of about 15 neighbors, all of whom oppose the angled parking and live on the square, held an emergency meeting last week to discuss the project and share their demands.

Some of those in attendance, who belong to the Palmer Square Park Advisory Council, the Palmer Square Neighborhood Association and the local homeowners association, said they were not given the opportunity to provide public comment on the project.

“They had ample opportunity to communicate with us and chose not to, and that’s not a good feeling for a 1st District resident,” neighbor Corinne Bradley said of La Spata staff.

Carrie Cochran, who has lived in the space for 40 years, said a similar project was proposed 10 years ago and was “strongly” opposed by neighbors because it was unsafe for the children and families who used the park and dangerous for cyclists and other motorists if angle parkers drove into moving traffic.

She and other neighbors said there has never been a problem finding parking around the square, even when people park there to take the Blue Line.

“None of us were ever consulted at any level about any of these options. Someone just decided to paint diagonal lines on the sidewalk without talking about it,” Cochran said.

La Spata said neighbors were not notified because the project is currently stalled, but he was aware of their concerns because they felt they were in the dark and wanted to be more involved from the start.

“We can definitely communicate more about that,” La Spata said. “Our engagement and communication tends to be commensurate with the impact of the project… we’re working to address those concerns. We can reach out to the church, we can reach out to St. Sylvester.”

Bradley launched a petition this week calling on the City Council to reconsider the proposal and “prevent Palmer Square Park from becoming a de facto parking lot.” The petition has garnered over 380 signatures as of Saturday.

La Spata is aware of the petition but said calling the proposal a “de facto parking lot” is inaccurate. It is also difficult to determine where in the area the petition signers live and the reasons they signed it, so his office plans to reach out to the community more directly, he said.

Because the project is on hold and has received a lot of attention, he said he is open to hearing traffic calming alternatives that could address speed and parking issues before the redesign is completed.

“When we do major roadwork in the community, we try to get a lot of community involvement so people know what to expect,” La Spata said. “We’ll definitely talk to the community much more broadly to understand their feelings and the needs of the people in the park.”

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