Main stretch of Lincoln Square closes to traffic for a week for construction
A main business strip in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood is closed to traffic this week — giving pedestrians a chance to walk where they normally may not.
But some are not enjoying the freedom.
Visitors to Giddings Plaza, at Lincoln Avenue and Giddings Street in the heart of busy Lincoln Square, know how hard it is to find a parking spot among the diagonal spaces on Lincoln because so many people come in to shop at local businesses. But this week, those diagonal spaces in the 4700 block of North Lincoln Avenue have all been vacant — and so has the single lane of southeast-bound traffic to their right.
Gabriel Madrid came to the car-free stretch with his 20-month-old daughter, Amelie, who was drawing with chalk in the street.
"We're out here because there's no cars right now, which is nice," Madrid said.
Ald. Matt Martin (47th) said the 4700 block of North Lincoln Avenue was closed to vehicles beginning Monday and will remain so through Saturday, for construction at Lincoln and Leland avenues at the south end of the block. Area businesses such as Bagel Miller, 4655 N. Lincoln Ave.; The Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave.; and Augusta Food and Wine, 2312 W. Leland Ave.; are taking part in a sidewalk sale throughout the closure.
"It's cool. It's fun," said Johnathan Bretz, 10. "You usually don't get to play in the street."
The car-free street gives Chicagoans a unique opportunity to enjoy Giddings Plaza without car traffic, and at the same time support local businesses.
"We're definitely in support of it," said Madrid. "It doesn't make a lot of sense having cars on this street anyway. It seems like it's dangerous. There's so much pedestrian traffic."
Roni Islam is on the board of Heart of Lincoln Square Neighbors Association. Islam said he and other residents created wooden benches specifically for this temporary street closure.
"We wanted people to imagine what we could do with all this space when there's this temporarily road closure for construction, so neighbors can just imagine how much more we can improve our neighborhood," Islam said.
Islam says they've had conversations with the alderman to close the street once a month.
But while some were enjoying the break, other residents said they could not wait for the street to reopen.
"I don't think it would help businesses if they closed it all the time," said Lincoln Square resident Jennifer Husbands. "I think it's important to kind of have this thoroughfare so people can come through here and see all the shops."
The manager at Geraldine's bakery and café at 4743 N. Lincoln Ave. added that out-of-towners who come by car help their business.
"We need the parking because there's just little of it," said Geraldine's manager Adam Dempewolf. "It helps for other people that maybe drive from another neighborhood."
Herat of Lincoln Square said it understands business concerns such as delivery, and would like to work with the alderman to install bollards that are retractable and schedule delivery times.
The history of restricting traffic in the 4700 block of North Lincoln Avenue goes back nearly half a century.
In 1978, Lincoln Avenue was rerouted to require motorists to follow a jog down Western Avenue between Ainslie Street and Lawrence Avenue — before that, Lincoln Avenue had crossed Western and Lawrence avenues in an imperfect six-way intersection that left a small triangle in the middle. The Walgreens in front of which the Chicago Lincoln statue is located used to front Lincoln Avenue, and still carries a street address of 4801 N. Lincoln Ave.
This effort also involved reducing Lincoln Avenue between Lawrence and Leland avenues to one lane of southeast-bound-only traffic, creating a pedestrian-friendly strip that featured Old World charm and was anchored by a Lombard Lamp donated from Hamburg, Germany, at Lincoln Avenue and Giddings Street.
In 1999, a now-famous fountain joined the Lombard Lamp at Giddings Plaza. Diners were seated outdoors for many years alongside the plaza at Café Selmarie, which operated on the plaza from 1983 to 2024, and continue to enjoy the outdoor space with Selmarie's successor, Willow Café and Bistro.
Chicago Brauhaus was also a destination for many years on the same stretch of Lincoln Avenue until it closed in December 2017 after 52 years. Merz Apothecary, established in 1875, remains in business at 4716 N. Lincoln Ave. Barba Yianni Grecian Taverna and Gene's Sausage Shop & Delicatessen also remain as longstanding popular anchors of the strip.
This week, Block Club Chicago asked readers on social media if they thought the 4700 block of North Lincoln Avenue should ban vehicular traffic permanently.
