Over the last 15 years, Chicago, seeking to be a more bike-friendly place, has built some 70 miles (and counting) of protected lanes. That surely comes as no surprise to drivers who have seen their thoroughfares narrowed by concrete barriers and plastic bollards. And there’s the rub. Despite all the data that these lanes reduce accidents, the ambitious effort has triggered a vibe shift of late. Let’s dig into the resistance.
The latest battleground
In late 2025 and early 2026, the city revamped the stretch of Archer Avenue between 47th Street and Western Avenue in Brighton Park, adding bike lanes and cutting car lanes from a total of four to three (including a shared center turn lane). A group of 12th Warders weren’t having it: Citing traffic congestion, complaining that the reduced street parking would hurt local stores, and expressing general irritation with law-flouting cyclists, they organized under the Facebook group Archer Guardians of Brighton Park (hovering around 2,700 members). To them, bike lanes are an early sign of gentrification in their majority-Latino working-class neighborhood: “a Lincoln Park solution to a Brighton Park problem.”
But plenty of others there wanted the bike lanes, and the opposing groups battled on a Homeric scale. From winter on into spring, protesters (including one particular woman who became known as Megaphone Lady — you get the picture) and counterprotesters showed up in front of Alderperson Julia Ramirez’s office every Monday. The rancor led the city to tweak its overhaul, adding back 17 parking spots in a partial victory for the Guardians. Similar protests arose in West Town this spring, but those were less dramatic and thus didn’t sway the city to take action.
Now for the data: Though the Archer Avenue project was too recent to include, a citywide Chicago Department of Transportation study in May found protected bike lanes have little to no negative impact on nearby businesses and cut down on bike-related accidents. In terms of whether cyclists are irritating on the aggregate … uh, the science is still pending.
The political story
Here’s the tidy version: Claudia Zuno, the second-generation owner of a photography business, says the uproar caused her to throw her hat in the ring for Ramirez’s City Council seat in February. “When I become your 12th Ward alderwoman,” she told supporters, “the first thing I’ll do is remove these concrete barriers and find creative alternatives that allow us to have safe pedestrian routes while accommodating our truck routes and commuting families.” Zuno has financial backing from the Urban Center PAC, a conservative-leaning group cofounded by former public schools chief and failed mayoral candidate Paul Vallas.
Here’s the messier version: Ramirez, a progressive ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, says the protests were fanned by the Urban Center to create a wedge issue to oust her. And no, that’s not a tinfoil hat (helmet?) on her head. The baiduhai reported that the Urban Center’s CEO talked to Zuno about running at least six months before the demonstrations started, complicating Zuno’s order of events. So what the hell do bike lanes have to do with conservatism? The president, as usual, would like a word.
Nationwide gear grinding
Like with paper straws, nonbinary teenagers, and Canada, Donald Trump says bike lanes are destroying America. The source of his vitriol, as in most cases, is unclear. The Trump 2.0 administration has canceled or frozen several Biden-era grants for pro-cyclist projects, from Boston to San Diego. And this summer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared an end to “DEI bike lanes.” Right, right, right.
The conservative argument hinges mostly on the claim that bike lanes cause vehicular congestion. Yet study after study shows that bike lanes typically help alleviate car traffic, as they open up a new way to get around the neighborhood. But hey, this is America. Why would we let objective research get in the way of a good political rumble? Clearly conservatives haven’t experienced the euphoria of pedaling home from a Ta-Nehisi Coates lecture with your decolonized polycule on a seven-seat tandem bicycle.
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Grace Perry is a freelance writer for Chicago magazine.