Five more Chicago streets are expected to close this weekend to make way for outdoor seating at area restaurants, Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office said Tuesday night.
The streets slated to close, per a statement from her office, include:
- Balmoral Street – closed on both sides of N. Clark
- Chinatown Square – adjacent to Archer Avenue from Wentworth to Princeton
- Taylor Street – closed from Loomis to Ashland
- Oliphant Avenue – closed from Northwest Highway to the first alley to the North
- 75th Street – sidewalk dining areas from Indiana to Calumet
The streets will be closed under an initiative Lightfoot announced last month to eliminate traffic on certain corridors to allow restaurants to move tables and chairs into the streets for more outdoor dining capacity.
Indoor dining is not allowed until phase four of the city and state's coronavirus reopening plans, scheduled to begin on Friday.
"The city was also proud to partner with local chambers of commerce on our pilot 'Open Streets' initiative, which allowed restaurants and more recently bars to maximize their outdoor capacity," Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar said at a news conference Monday, calling the program a "tremendous success."
"This program is now operational in several commercial corridors throughout the city. In fact, we expect many more neighborhoods opening outdoor dining options this coming weekend, including Chinatown, Taylor Street, Chatham and Andersonville, as well as more than 30 private parking lots that are now outdoor dining spaces," he continued.
Further details on the closures, including the timing, were not immediately available.
Earlier this month, Broadway in Lakeview was shut down from Belmont Avenue to Diversey Parkway, with more than 35 restaurants participating in the program. And in the Gold Coast, Rush Street was closed between Oak Street and State Street for the same initiative.
Other streets slated for closures, according to the city, included Randolph Street in the West Loop and 26th Street in Little Village.
