2019 Menu Program End-of-Year Summary

Dear Neighbors,

Every year, City of Chicago Wards receive approximately $1.3 million in discretionary infrastructure funding from the Dept. of Transportation, known as the “menu money” program.

This year’s menu money authorizations for the 40th Ward are a combination of projects already requested by previous Ald. Patrick O’Connor and requests from the current Ward office based on CDOT’s list of most-damaged streets. Our office also took advantage of opportunities to share repaving or other costs with neighboring Wards and with City departments where possible, and allocated a small amount of menu money to fulfill several years of backlogged tree planting requests in the Ward. 

Some “carryover” projects from this year’s requests, marked with an asterisk, are partially or fully scheduled for 2020, usually due to the close of asphalt season or other seasonal issues such as the tree planting cycle. 

Our office authorized the following projects in 2019:

Street Resurfacing

  • Claremont from Glenlake to Granville
  • Farragut from Washtenaw to Rockwell
  • Glenlake from Paulina to Hermitage
  • Winchester from Farragut to Berwyn*
  • Clark from Bryn Mawr to Foster (cost split with 48th Ward)
  • Rockwell from Foster to 1st alley south*
  • Rockwell from Ardmore to Peterson
  • Wolcott from Norwood to Granville
  • Farragut from Ashland to Paulina (cost split with DWM reconstruction)
  • Berwyn from Ashland to Paulina (cost split with DWM reconstruction)

Alley Resurfacing

  • Alley bounded by Albion/Greenview/Arthur/Bosworth*
  • Alley bounded by Berwyn/Lincoln/Foster/Western*
  • Alley bounded by Granville/Washtenaw/Glenlake/Fairfield*
    • Speed humps for Granville/Washtenaw/Glenlake/Fairfield alley
  • Alley bounded by Ardmore/Maplewood/Hollywood/Rockwell*
  • Alley bounded by Ardmore/Virginia/Hollywood/Legion Park*
    • Speed humps for Ardmore/Virginia/Hollywood/Legion Park alley
  • Alley bounded by Thome/Hermitage/Granville/Paulina

Alley Reconstruction – Green Alley

  • Alley bounded by Ashland/Edgewater/Hermitage/Hollywood*
  • Alley bounded by Catalpa/Ashland/Rascher/Paulina*

Sidewalk Repair

  • Arthur between Bosworth and first alley east, north side*
  • Leavitt between Summerdale and Bowmanville, west side*
  • Winona between Oakley and Claremont, south side*

Other Infrastructure

  • Bike lanes – Clark from Lawrence to Ashland (cost split with 48th and 47th Wards)
  • Crosswalk striping – Virginia at Leland (cost split with 47th Ward)
  • Crosswalk striping – Ravenswood at Rosehill*
  • Aprox. 140 tree plantings to clear the backlog of tree requests up to 2019*
  • Placement of five OEMC/CPD cameras at critical intersections, based on CPD District Commanders’ priority lists*
  • Curb bumpouts at Paulina/Bryn Mawr (Passages School)*
  • Curb restoration on 1600 Edgewater block*
  • Alley speed hump repair at six 311-reported damaged locations