Cars block a downtown bike lane for years, and an Uptown greenway is named for a girl killed in one. What the Council has done on enforcement

CDOT plans curbs on Harrison Street by the main post office as soon as early November. The Council voted 49-0 this month to take Smart Streets cameras citywide, after rejecting a resident-reporting pilot in February.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 26, 2026

Drivers have parked in the Harrison Street bike lane outside the main post office, 433 W. Harrison St., for years, forcing cyclists and scooter riders into traffic, Block Club Chicago reported Monday. The Chicago Department of Transportation told Block Club it plans to install a protected lane with plastic curbs and posts on Harrison from Canal Street to Franklin Street as soon as early November.

Two days earlier in Uptown, the Leland Avenue bike route was renamed "Lily's Greenway" for a 3-year-old girl killed in 2022 after an illegally parked utility truck blocked the bike lane her family was riding in, Block Club reported. Ald. Angela Clay (46th) joined the family for the sign unveiling.

Why it matters: a car in a bike lane pushes riders into moving traffic, and both stories turn on the same question the Council has argued about all year: how the City enforces the rule.

What the coverage found

Parking or standing in a bike lane carries a $250 fine and a possible tow, according to City code cited by Block Club. On Harrison, there is a free underground garage for post office customers at the end of the block, but little signage pointing to it, Block Club reported. Some drivers, including a postal employee, told Block Club they did not know the lane was for bikes. The founder of a group that documents blocked bike lanes told Block Club the stretch has been a problem on and off for a decade.

In Uptown, the City added concrete curb bump-outs along the greenway after the 2022 crash, Block Club reported. "Sometimes you got to put some plastic or some concrete up," Clay told Block Club.

What our records add: the Council's enforcement votes

Smart Streets went citywide this month. The Smart Streets program uses cameras on City vehicles and CTA buses to ticket drivers blocking bus lanes, bike lanes and traffic lanes. On Oct. 14, the Council voted 49 to 0 for Ald. Andre Vasquez's (40th) ordinance expanding the area it covers (SO2026-0028833), which had 29 co-sponsors. Fox 32 reported that enforcement will expand in phases beyond downtown, and that a bike lane violation can bring a $250 fine.

How each ward voted

49 yea, 1 not voting · Oct 14, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay Not voting

SO2026-0028833: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

What members heard before that vote. At a Sept. 15 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety hearing, City staff said the pilot area had grown from about 8 to 18 square miles (watch at 29:37) and that about 140,000 warnings and violations had been issued, 75% of them warnings with no fine (34:08). Staff reported about $2.5 million collected since 2024 (35:49). Vasquez asked why the program was still limited to small areas years later (41:36); staff said enforcement outside the pilot zone needed Council action (44:04). Ald. Matthew Martin (47th) said the program was meant to change habits, not close budget gaps (53:39). Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) asked to add Sheridan Road in her ward (56:42).

A resident-reporting pilot failed. In February, the Council rejected Ald. Daniel La Spata's (1st) ordinance (SO2024-0010993) that would have let residents submit recorded evidence of cars blocking bike lanes, bus lanes and crosswalks in a pilot area, 16 to 31. At the committee hearing, Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) said a lack of enforcement drives the blocking and called the ordinance an enforcement tool (watch at 1:09:53).

How each ward voted

16 yea, 31 nay, 1 absent, 2 not voting · Feb 18, 2026 · Failed to Pass

Yea Nay Absent Not voting

SO2024-0010993: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

Earlier Smart Streets votes. The original pilot passed 46 to 2 in March 2023 under the previous Council (SO2023-874), and its extension passed 50 to 0 in July 2024 (SO2024-0007768). The Mayor's 2027 budget counts on more bus-lane tickets, as we reported.

What's next

CDOT said the Harrison curbs could go in as soon as early November. The Department of Transportation and the Department of Finance, which handles ticketing, testify at the Council's budget hearings this week, Transportation on Thursday, Oct. 29 (hearing schedule).