Byron One Way Decision 10/25/24
Several months ago, in June, the 46th Ward Office ran a survey after being approached by a large number of neighbors living on Byron street seeking to convert Byron into a one-way westbound street from Southport to Ashland (1400-1600 W. Byron). These neighbors expressed that the street was too narrow for two-way traffic, leading to frequent side-swiping, dangerous passing situations, and unsafe driving at nearby intersections.
Neighbors also reached out previously to the 47th Ward Office before the area was redistricted into the 46th ward. However, their process had not proceeded sufficiently prior to redistricting and so we began from scratch.
The survey was open for several weeks and received more than 300 responses. Twenty five percent of respondents lived on Byron itself. More than 50% lived one block away; less than 10% lived two blocks away, and roughly 6% lived 3-4 blocks away.
A significant majority of both survey-takers and Byron residents supported the proposed one-way conversion. Counting only residents on Byron, 60% supported the proposed change. Neighbors living 1-2 blocks away – often frequent users of Byron, and living on one-way streets themselves – also narrowly supported the proposed one-way conversion by a margin of 52% to 48%.
Seeing extensive community support for the proposal, especially from Byron residents themselves, the 46th Ward reached out to the Department of Transportation (CDOT) to ensure that the proposed conversion would have no significant impacts on emergency vehicle access or traffic patterns; traffic engineers at CDOT reviewed the one-way conversion proposal and had no objections.
The 46th Ward staff carefully weighed the arguments made by both proponents and opponents of the change. We heard from neighbors via the survey, phone, email and in-person walks on Byron, all of which were made thoughtfully and in good faith.
From those in favor of the proposed conversion, we heard that many residents hesitated to park or drive on that stretch of Byron due to its narrowness, and had witnessed numerous accidents and hit and runs on the street. Drivers also often use Byron as a cut-through from Ashland and speed down the street, putting pedestrians at risk.
From those against the conversion, we heard that many residents were concerned that making Byron into a one-way would make leaving the neighborhood more difficult and would have the side effect of directing more through traffic onto alleys in order to avoid exiting via Ashland or Irving Park. Residents also were concerned that turning Byron into a one-way would increase speeds leading to a decrease in safety.
Taking all of these concerns and more from proponents and opponents into account, we have decided to support the proposed one-way conversion.
We will work with CDOT to ensure we address the secondary effects of the one-way conversion: these may include alley speed-bumps to slow down any potential through traffic and neighborhood traffic coming on Byron to ensure drivers don’t use the one-way as an excuse to speed.