They say the area is far too congested to handle the addition of bike lanes and wider pedestrian crossings.
Construction is underway on a massive rehaul of roads around Brighton Park, from 47th Street to Western Avenue.
The goal is to add in protected bike lanes, safer pedestrian crossings and improved driving lanes.
People living in the area are frustrated with the project, with more than 2,000 residents signing a petition against it.
"The community really wasn't approached about these bike lanes, knowing how this is going to impact our daily commute, kids waiting for the bus when it usually takes 15-20 minutes for a bus to come. It's taking 40-45 minutes," Brighton park resident Claudia Zuno said.
Julia Ramirez, the 12th Ward alderman, has received a lot of community feedback on the matter. Her office says it's been working with the Chicago Department of Transportation to address concerns.
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In a statement, Ramirez said in part, "Archer & Kedzie account for many of neighborhood's traffic injuries & fatalities. The new designs will address the causes of these crashes, and these elements have reduced crashes, injuries, and seeding on other projects."
Much of the frustration also comes with the timing of the project, as the pedestrian areas and bike lanes are often filled with snow and ice in the winter.
"There's limited plows in Chicago for bike lanes, and we're not getting plowed, especially if it's back-to-back snow days," Zuno said. "We're a big city; we're a commuting city and biking right now on every street especially our industrial corridor avenues is not meant for bikes."
CDOT says there are 47 percent more crashes in Brighton Park compared to the average in other neighborhoods.
Dixon Galvez-Searle has lived in the area for 20 years, and he says this project is needed to avoid those crashes.
"Ever since 2020, we've seen an average of about 1,500 crashes a year in Brighton park. That's way too many, and it's going up," Archer Heights resident Dixon Galvez-Searle said.
Galvez-Searle says, while the congestion is frustrating now, he believes this will benefit everyone in the long run.
"The hope is this can accommodate everybody, people walking, biking, waiting for the bus and also people driving. Archer is for everybody," Galvez-Searle said.
So, this current part of the project continues along Archer and Kedzie avenues and is expected to be finished in January.