The city of Chicago has launched the ‘Moving Archer Forward’ initiative, a multi-year plan to transform a large stretch of Archer Avenue from Bridgeport to Garfield Ridge. The plan includes infrastructure upgrades and development initiatives, such as overhauling streets, CTA stations, businesses, parks, and residential developments along the 6.3-mile Archer Avenue corridor.

Project Details

The project, co-sponsored by the city’s Department of Planning and Development and the Regional Transit Authority, aims to shift Archer Avenue away from its traditional industrial character and toward residential and commercial uses. The city plans to fund equitable transit-oriented development, with a focus on building a mixture of market-rate and affordable housing.

The City Council must still approve any necessary zoning modifications before providing grant funding for higher-density, multifamily construction clustered near CTA stations. The Regional Transportation Authority and Department of Planning and Development project 800 new housing units and 280,000 new square feet of retail space to be built along the corridor within 10-20 years of the initiative’s implementation.

Archer Avenue’s Orange Line stops would also be redesigned under the plan, with much of the dedicated bus parking near stations converted into public plazas. The project is slated to move through the City Council’s planning commission next month, with a timeline for the project still unclear.

Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.