Legislation Further Enables Complete Streets Roadway Designs
Navigating the winding road to legislative changes for improved traffic safety.

During “lame duck session” in January 2025, legislation to further enable Complete Streets roadway designs at the state level was passed. SB899 (Simmons/Buckner) will allow the City of Chicago and other communities to design roadways that prioritize pedestrians and cyclists as long as proper signage placed indicating that those locations are not designed for large trucks. This bill builds on related legislation passed in 2023 intended to make sure that intersection design can be customized to local context and needs SB2278 (Simmons/Buckner).
Previously, local communities were required to build all new intersections to accommodate the turning radius of a 65-foot truck, which often precluded design features that would make intersections safer for people walking and biking. Essentially, the law required prioritizing trucks over everything else. This resulted in intersections being not only oversized, but proven safety features like pedestrian islands, curb extensions, and protected bike lanes were sometimes removed from designs. Huge intersections are unappealing for pedestrians to cross and more dangerous because wide roads invite faster driving, and pedestrians are exposed to traffic longer when crossing.
The previous law resulted in the rejection of a proposed pedestrian refuge island on Irving Park Rd. in Chicago (an IDOT-controlled road) to accommodate trucks turning off a local, one-way street, N. Bell Ave. If that refuge island had been built, it might have saved the life of Peter Paquette, who was killed by a motorist while trying to cross the street in June 2022. SB 899 and SB 2278 change that requirement and allow engineers to design for context. No longer must truck turning radius be the governing design factor. In the many places that need pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements, we can make them.
So how did MPC determine the needed legislative fix?
In the fall of 2022, MPC convened a group of engineers to interrogate why Illinois has such a poor record of building Complete Streets elements, which was resulting in increasing pedestrian fatality rates. The engineers told us that this truck turning radius requirement was the primary obstacle they faced in designing safe intersections. Therefore, MPC convened discussions including the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Active Transportation Alliance as well as engineers that specialize in Complete Streets roadway design to determine a legislative approach to addressing this issue. We worked with the bill sponsor and tireless traffic safety champion Senator Mike Simmons who worked with additional stakeholders, including the trucking associations and Illinois DOT in final negotiations to develop legislative language that all could agree on. Then in 2024, MPC assisted with conversations between Illinois DOT and the Chicago DOT to tighten up state statute so that there was full clarity on which agency has responsibility for adding signs indicating where roadways are not designed for them and they should avoid traveling.
Because it’s important that safety features are feasible for truckers to navigate, SB2278 also requires communities to report to IDOT locations that cannot accommodate long trucks. This will result in better information for truckers who can ensure they are taking routes that can physically accommodate their vehicles, which should reduce damage to roadway infrastructure. Trucking industry representatives tell us that this information is an important benefit for them.
The final result: two bills that together will save lives. We have never needed it more than now, with bicycle and pedestrian fatalities comprising nearly 20 percent of all traffic fatalities in Illinois in 2023. To proactively address traffic safety in this region, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is working with the six counties in Northeastern Illinois to identify strategies for improvement. Please visit the Safe Travel for All project page, and county pages linked within, to:
- Drop pins on the safety hotspots map
- Take the traffic safety survey (and enter to win a $100 Visa gift card!)
- Get details on events and open houses
- Sign up for project updates.