A stretch of Clark Street in River North has closed and will remain shut down for several months in an effort to expand outdoor dining in the Chicago neighborhood.
More than a dozen restaurants on Clark between Grand Avenue and Kinzie Street will expand their dining rooms into the roadway Tuesday for guests to dine alfresco as of July 12. According to the Chicago Department of Transportation, Clark will stay closed to vehicular traffic 24 hours a day from July 11 to Oct. 31.
The move is part of Chicago’s Outdoor Dining Program, introduced by Mayor Brandon Johnson and approved by the city council in June.
“The program reimagines outdoor dining spaces across the city and supports Chicago’s hospitality and food industries by fostering the creation of inviting outdoor spaces,” CDOT said in a statement. “Chicago’s Outdoor Dining Program is administered by CDOT and BACP and allows for three types of outdoor dining permits: sidewalk cafes, full street closures, and curb lane closures.”
The Clark Street closures may feel similar to the creative dining solutions enacted during the pandemic, a strategy that people like The Smith chef Amando Auleley and Jordan Arbus, director of operations for Beatrix, endorse.
“We are the neighborhood meeting place,” said Arbus, “so it only allows people who are walking by to kind of get a sense of our energy and what we’re doing here and create that additional dining atmosphere for our guests in the neighborhood.”
According to CDOT, East-west streets, including Grand Avenue, Illinois Street, Hubbard Street and Kinzie Street, will remain open to cars, and a 15-foot pathway running along the center of Clark Street allows walking and bike traffic to continue enjoying the area.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/1T7o8pd
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