The danger of being a Chicago cyclist

Riley O’Neil’s death hit Chicago’s safe-streets community especially hard. He was not just a cyclist. He was a CDOT planner who worked on making streets safer before he was killed while biking in Bridgeport. In this episode of A Four Star Podcast, Grant Horne talks with John Greenfield of Streetsblog Chicago about Riley’s life, his work, and what his death says about the way Chicago designs, debates, and prioritizes its streets. But Riley’s story is only the beginning. The conversation widens into a bigger look at Chicago transportation: the limits of paint-only bike lanes, the politics of protected infrastructure, the fight over parking and curb space, new express bus lane proposals, e-bike legislation, and what the CTA needs from its new leadership. Greenfield also shares his impressions from visiting the Obama Presidential Center site as the city prepares for its opening, and what that major South Side destination could mean for transit, biking, walking, tourism, and neighborhood access. It is a conversation about bikes, buses, trains, traffic, and development. More than that, it is about whether Chicago can build a transportation system that is safer, faster, more reliable, and more humane. From Riley’s legacy to the future of the CTA, this episode asks a simple question with complicated answers: how should Chicago move? https://x.com/streetsblogchi https://bsky.app/profile/chi.streetsblog.org https://chi.streetsblog.org/ 00:00 Coming up: Riley and Chicago’s streets 00:25 John Greenfield joins the show 02:30 Riley O’Neil’s story 07:30 A safe-streets planner killed biking 12:30 Dooring, bike lanes, and street design 18:30 Paint versus protection 24:30 Memorial rides and policy pressure 30:00 The broader transportation fight 34:00 Express bus lanes 40:00 Chicago’s e-bike debate 46:00 A new leader for CTA 53:00 What riders need now 59:00 Visiting the Obama Center 1:06:00 Transit, access, and the South Side 1:12:00 How Chicago should move Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices