[ardecila]

^ It's too bad Loyola was prevented from their lakefill plan back in the 1980s, I think there would be a lot more momentum to complete the missing segments of lakefront park.

A Robert Moses style leader could potentially get the project done by adding back in the LSD extension and relying on the support of drivers... the problem is that there's really no good outlet for the traffic once you hit city limits. Howard or Touhy would be overwhelmed if they extended six lanes up to city limits. Maybe the extension just ends up being a 2-lane urban parkway with a few pulloffs and passing lanes, like Rock Creek Parkway in DC. All pedestrian crossings would be on underpasses. After that, put in a bus lane on Sheridan so everyone benefits.

Also, just to play devil's advocate: CDOT and the Park District could absolutely remove Cornell with or without the Obama Library. That traffic really should be on Stony Island and calmed aggressively, as the city's plan now calls for, or detour east to Lake Shore Drive where pedestrians can cross over/under. It looks like taxpayers will be on the hook for this work anyway, so even if Obama decides to take his ball and go home, this would be a worthy investment in a historically dense, lakefront community.