The Seminary Shared Street was installed July 14 and lasted less than three months before it was torn out 2 months early on October 1. Shared Streets make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians, especially children, to use the street by forcing cars to slow down near the barrels and restricting car access to local traffic only. Seminary Shared Street runs alongside Hawthorne Elementary and a field and playground used by children throughout the neighborhood.

When Leland's Shared Street was removed three months early this Labor Day, a CDOT spokesperson said Seminary's Shared Street would be in place until the end of November (see the last paragraph of the article). We're asking Alderman Tunney, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and CDOT Commissioner Gia Biagi to return the Seminary Shared Street through the end of November as planned and then engage with the community to find a permanent solution for a safe Seminary Street.

Alderman Tunney's office said they only asked the people living on Seminary for feedback and it was "not in favor" so they took it down. All the reasons provided related to drivers breaking the law or being inconvenienced: cars double parking during school dropoff/pickup, barrels getting run over, and "more of a hazard for cars to get around the barrels" (a.k.a. the whole point). Unless we demonstrate to our leaders that the community values safe streets over driver convenience, this could be the last year of Shared Streets in Chicago.