Ward Night Recap: August 5, 2025
Thanks to everyone who attended our August 5 Ward Night! Here’s a summary of what we discussed:
Granville Traffic Safety Improvements. Neighbors who attended the meeting asked about the Granville Traffic Calming project timeline and mobility for emergency vehicles once all traffic calming measures are in place.
Granville construction is expected to be completed by the end of August and
Per the project overview, this initiative will not hinder emergency vehicles as all intersections are designed to the specifications of the largest fire department vehicles, and emergency services may travel in all directions regardless of one-ways.
If you notice or are aware of emergency vehicles not being able to reach their destinations, please contact our office. We remain in touch with emergency services and CDOT to ensure that these services can work as efficiently and smoothly as possible.
Sewer Main Replacement/Ridge Closure. The Department of Water Management (DWM) is working on a $9 million sewer main and lead service replacement project in the 48th ward! Our sewers along Ridge are some of the oldest in the city (from 1893) and are regularly breaking and leaking. The project will prevent future breaks/leaks, increase sewer capacity, and help to address long-standing flooding issues. We have provided weekly updates on this project in our newsletter since it began.
Construction is right on schedule and expected to be completed by the end of August.
Our office has worked daily with city departments and third party navigation services including Google Maps and Waze to implement and enforce necessary side street closures. Please continue to contact our office to let us know about dangerous vehicle behavior on our residential side streets so we can make changes as necessary.
Broadway Zoning. Alds. Manaa-Hoppenworth, Martin, and Clay have introduced a series of zoning ordinances in City Council in an effort to simplify the zoning along Broadway making it easier for small businesses to move and expand and for developers to build affordable housing near our new CTA redline stations.
These ordinances are a reflection of our community-built Broadway Land Use Framework which was developed through an extrensive community process and prioritizes pedestrian-friendlym mixed-use development.
The zoning ordinances have been deferred to a later city council meeting.
To show your support for Broadway rezoning, send us an email at info@the48thward.org, email the Director of the Chicago Committee on Zoning Nicole Wellhausen at Nicole.Wellhausen@CityofChicago.org.
Emanuel Congregation Potential Development at Sheridan and Thorndale. Many of our Sheridan neighbors attended the meeting to ask about Emanuel Congregation’s potential development plans for the corner of Sheridan and Thorndale. Many people asked for an explanation of the current zoning in that area and assurances that there would be a transparent community process in the case of any future development.
Currently, Emanuel Congregation has made no firm development plans but does wish to stay in the 48th ward, the community that has been their home for decades. a representative from Emanuel came to confirm that there are no plans set-in-stone and that the ward and office and the community will both be informed if any plans are made.
The 48th Ward office is committed to community engagement. To stay up to date on opportunities for feedback and input, subscirbe to our newsletter.
The city has an interactive zoning map here. You can search this map by address to find out what use a specific plot of land is currently zoned for. Emanuel Congregation’s building at 5959 N Sheridan is in an RS-1 zoning district while 6000 N Sheridan is in an RM-5.5.
We were happy to see such large turnout to this meeting but we understand that with more attendees, there are more questions that we did not have time to answer during the meeting! Please continue to follow up with our office via phone (773-784-5277), email (info@the48thward.org), or by visiting us in person at 1129 W Bryn Mawr.
Please note that our next ward night meeting has been rescheduled from August 19 to August 26. Register here.
