Reconsider outdoor dining compromise on Clark Steet in River North, Council member says
Clark Street, from Grand Avenue south to Kinzie Street, was blocked off for expanded outdoor dining for restaurants last year.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times file photo
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) isn't happy with the outdoor dining compromise served up for a busy stretch of Clark Street in River North — and he’s urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to reconsider.
Johnson tried to strike what he viewed as an appropriate balance by narrowing three blocks of Clark, from Grand to Kinzie, for outdoor dining, while still allowing traffic to flow.
New permits issued by the Chicago Department of Transportation will allow restaurants to put up tables and serve diners on sidewalks and in curb lanes on that stretch through Oct. 31. But Clark will remain open to traffic.
Reilly had proposed his own compromise. First, close curb lanes until “the conclusion of the NASCAR teardown” in mid-July. Then, close the street to all vehicles through Oct. 1. He came away from negotiations with the mayor’s office believing he had an agreement.
On Wednesday, Reilly said the rug was pulled out from under him. The mayor’s office overrode his wishes and also those of an overwhelming majority of his constituents, he said.
“For a mayor who ran a campaign on building a strong working relationship with the City Council and its members, I have yet to see any evidence of that,” Reilly told the Sun-Times on Thursday.
“If he’s truly the populist mayor he claims to be, he’d be listening to 87% of my constituents in River North, who wish to have the full street closure on Clark. … It boggles the mind as to why Mayor Johnson and his team have decided to turn a really positive program for the neighborhood into a risky experiment.”
Chief Operating Officer John Roberson could not be reached for comment.
In a letter to Roberson dated Wednesday, Reilly said he was “disappointed” the Johnson administration "rejected the proposed compromise to allow for “full closure and 'pedestrianization'“ of Clark Street after the NASCAR street race and before the Democratic National Convention .
Reilly repeated to the Sun-Times what he'd said in his letter: Chicago police officers working the popular strip firmly believe “pedestrianizing Clark Street significantly enhances neighborhood safety and their ability to patrol” the area, especially on weekends.
“This continuing traffic is just gonna make their job more difficult with a whole lot more monitoring of loading and idling and all of these sorts of things when they should be out there pursuing violent criminals,” Reilly said.
“By eliminating the curb lanes but still allowing traffic flow, that’s still gonna be a problem with beer truck deliveries. There’s a lot of restaurants and bars on this street. The beer trucks — the 18-wheelers — will occupy one lane. You’ve got Uber and Lyft doing lots of pick-ups. You’re gonna have party buses idling and dropping off drunk patrons. It’s a lot of action without any curb use.”
Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia worked with Reilly and then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot during the pandemic to create an outdoor dining program. It was a lifeline to restaurants and bars struggling while indoor dining and drinking was prohibited or restricted.
On Thursday, Toia refused to take sides in the heated debate. A handful of nearby restaurant owners off Clark Street lobbied the mayor’s office, believing the full closure “hurts their business,” as Reilly put it.
“I have members on both sides of the issue,” Toia said. “However, I do understand that Chicago is the summer city of the United States and our residents and our tourists love eating outside during spring and summer months and in early fall.”