Neighborhoods across Chicago will be closing off streets for bars and restaurants to open for patio dining.
While the city has rolled back on indoor seating at bars and restaurants, Chicago will continue with its Make Way For Diners program in a further effort to help struggling local bars and restaurants to recoup revenue lost over the past months.
In late May, the city announced that it would be shutting off six streets at certain hours to allow bars and restaurants open for patio dining; however, it wasn’t until mid June that the city launched the first phase of the program, Make Way for Diners, in Lakeview but shutting off Broadview Street from through traffic so that customers could dine al fresco while abiding by necessary social distancing regulations.
“The expanded outdoor dining program will close streets and utilize the public way to allow local businesses to establish operations outdoors. The City worked in close coordination with local Aldermen, businesses and chambers of commerce to tailor operations of the expansion to best meet the needs of businesses,” read a press release from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office.
Since then the program has expanded to include 14 streets across the City of Chicago. Those streets to be closed off this weekend include:
- Balmoral Street – reserved on both sides of North Clark
- Bellevue Place — reserved from State to Rush Street
- Chinatown Square – adjacent to Archer Avenue from Wentworth to Princeton
- Division Street — reserved from Dearborn to State
- Laflin Street — reserved from north Taylor to south Taylor
- North Lincoln Avenue — reserved from Wrightwood Avenue to Fullerton Avenue
- Oliphant Avenue – reserved from Northwest Highway to the first alley to the North
- Randolph Street — reserved from expressway to North Elizabeth Street
- Rush Street — reserved from Oak Street to Cedar Street
- South Oakley Avenue — reserved from West 24th Place to West 24th Street
- Taylor Street – reserved from Loomis to Ashland
- Wellington Avenue — reserved from West Lakeview to west Southport
- West Cornelia Avenue — reserved from East of Southport Avenue to nearest alley
- 75th Street – sidewalk dining areas from Indiana to Calumet
Furthermore, the city has granted businesses permission to utilize 30 parking lots for the same purpose. The permits granted by the city are effective immediately, and will remain in place for up to 180 days.
“We are thrilled to be taking this exciting next step in Chicago’s outdoor dining program following the emphatic success of our initial three pilot streets,” Lightfoot said.
“Our city’s small and local businesses make up the fabric of our beloved neighborhoods, as well as represent the backbone of our economy, and thanks to this program, many of them will be able to safely welcome more customers, bring employees back to work, and recover from the shock of the COVID-19 crisis.”
See also: 46 Amazing Things To Do In Chicago In August
[Featured image: @thisislakeview]