Chicago’s lakefront could see staggered start times, social distancing when it reopens

Mayor Lori Lightfoot raised the possibility Friday of assigning different times of the day for joggers, walkers and bikers to use Chicago’s lakefront and other popular outdoor areas that are now closed due to overcrowding during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lightfoot refused to set a timetable for when she might reopen lakefront parks, The 606 elevated trail and the downtown Riverwalk, which she closed in late March after residents flouted social distancing rules to pack into them on a warm weekend afternoon.

“A lot of that is going to be guided by the science, and I have to be confident that we can open up those larger venues, the lakefront, The 606, interior trails in a way that still allows us to maintain social distancing,” Lightfoot said at a news conference to announce her five-phase framework for benchmarks that need to be met for reopening different parts of the city.

The mayor repeatedly has said she doesn’t want to backslide as the city tries to move forward from the stay-at-home order, a stance she reiterated.

“When I made the hard decision — but I think appropriate decision — to close down the lakefront, it’s because we talked, we talked, we talked, and people ignored it. Now the weather’s even nicer, the lakefront is beautiful, it’s an incredible attraction, we can’t reopen it up and go back to where we were,” she said.

But she also said she’s open to outside-the-box ideas such as staggered start times for different modes of transportation along Lake Michigan.

“People have been sending me really interesting ideas about a phased reopening, even having segmented hours for particular types of activities, I think those are really interesting ideas,” Lightfoot said.

Social distancing ambassadors to tell people to move farther apart could also be considered, she said.

“I think a lot about the ushers at Wrigley,” she said. “They’re pretty tough. They’re checking your ticket, they’re making sure you’re going to the right seat. We need to have the same kind of rigor, I believe, in thinking about reopening our parks and other big public spaces. So I see that as another area where we’re going to be employing people where those jobs didn’t exist before.”