I never really had problems with Biagi when I heard her talk, or explain her goals for CDOT, but it was abundantly clear that her department wasn't doing enough to prioritize transit modes other than the car. That's a failure, no matter how you slice it -- either Biagi was less than transparent about her goals/motives regarding pedestrian safety, she fundamentally misunderstood the problems that arise from car-centric design or she was unable to affect significant systemic change in her department.
Here's hoping whoever replaces her is willing to acknowledge de-prioritizing the car-centric transportation model as their #1 priority, and has a clear plan on how to move the city in that direction.
This has been a problem with CDOT for ever. For all his faults Rahm actually pushed a decent amount of bike improvements, but the CDOT bureaucracy is built around traffic engineering as its first, last and only mission. You can see all the screwed up things they've done to pedestrians in Grant Park over the years (including at one point blocking off access to the lakefront from Buckingham Fountain!) to keep traffic flowing on DLSD and Congress.
I never really had problems with Biagi when I heard her talk, or explain her goals for CDOT, but it was abundantly clear that her department wasn't doing enough to prioritize transit modes other than the car. That's a failure, no matter how you slice it -- either Biagi was less than transparent about her goals/motives regarding pedestrian safety, she fundamentally misunderstood the problems that arise from car-centric design or she was unable to affect significant systemic change in her department.
Here's hoping whoever replaces her is willing to acknowledge de-prioritizing the car-centric transportation model as their #1 priority, and has a clear plan on how to move the city in that direction.
This has been a problem with CDOT for ever. For all his faults Rahm actually pushed a decent amount of bike improvements, but the CDOT bureaucracy is built around traffic engineering as its first, last and only mission. You can see all the screwed up things they've done to pedestrians in Grant Park over the years (including at one point blocking off access to the lakefront from Buckingham Fountain!) to keep traffic flowing on DLSD and Congress.