In Memory of Fallen Chicago Complete Streets Planner Riley O’Neil

Last Friday, Chicago Department of Transportation Complete Streets Planner Riley O’Neil, 35, was cycling in a paint-only bike lane when he was killed by a driver who failed to check for oncoming traffic before opening his door.

On Monday, the centerpiece of O’Neil’s memorial ride was a “die-in” protest, with hundreds of riders lying in the street at the crash site, wordlessly demanding a citywide network of concrete-protected bike lanes that would prevent such tragedies. The five minutes of silence, punctuated by birdsongs, was a healing moment for Chicago’s bike advocacy community. And hopefully we’ll be able to look back at this moment as watershed, when City leaders finally realized they need to stop prioritizing convenient driving over human lives.

O’Neil managed CDOT’s bicycle parking program for several years, and was credited with overhauling it. In recent years, he helped lead the department’s bus priority initiatives and school safety zone projects.

On Friday, June 5, around 4:40 p.m., O’Neil was pedaling on Halsted Street, a key north-south bike commuting route, through the business district of the South Side’s Bridgeport neighborhood. While some other stretches of Hasted in have curbside, concrete-protected bikeways, this retail-dense segment has non-protected lanes striped to the left of the parking lane, i.e. in “the door zone,” in order to preserve all car storage spots.

According to Chicago Police Department, the 31-year-old driver of an uninsured car with a suspended license was parked in a prohibited space against the curb, near the local police station. The motorist opened his door without looking behind him for bikes, right in O’Neil’s Path. The cyclist swerved to avoid a crash but clipped the door. He was thrown into the street and under the rear wheels of an oncoming semi-truck.

Monday’s 7 p.m. memorial was organized by Chicago, Bike Grid Now!, a grassroots trying to create a checkerboard of low-stress cycling- and walking-priority routes. The event assembled at Bridgeport’s Palmisano Park, a few blocks north of the crash site.

During Monday’s evening rush, Complete Streets boosters held their weekly rally in support of CDOT’s under-construction Archer Avenue traffic safety project, an effort to create a safer corridor for all road users, in the Brighton Park community, just down the road from Bridgeport. But some residents and merchants have objected to the conversion of mixed-traffic lanes and parking spots to make room for walk/bike/bus infrastructure, including the type of protected lanes that would have prevented O’Neil’s death.

The Trump-friendly lobbying group Urban Center has been trying to harness this discontent for the last six months, promoting weekly protests against the Safe Streets project near the office of progressive local Alderperson (City Council member) Julia Ramirez (12th). It’s become increasingly obvious that the demonstrators are less interested in street design issues than electing Ramirez’s more conservative challenger, protest regular Claudia Zuno. (Streetsblog Chicago does not endorse candidates.)

While there are usually dueling rallies on Mondays, in the wake of O’Neil’s death, thankfully the opponents didn’t show up yesterday. After the rally, the supporters and Ald. Ramirez rode northeast on Archer to Bridgeport, where they met up with a larger group that pedaled southwest from the Loop, Chicago’s downtown business district.

At the park, the hundreds of people there to honor Riley O’Neil listened attentively to several speeches. I’ve transcribed portions of their statements, but I encourage you to watch the videos of their moving words when you have a chance.

“[Riley] was a dedicated bike advocate, and the person we have to thank for Chicago’s significant growth in bike parking,” said Bike Grid organizer Nik Hunder. “Riley’s friend, CDOT Complete Streets Manager David Powe has asked that we now refer to Chicago’s bike racks as ‘Riley Racks’ in remembrance.”

“Like many of you here, I’ve spent the last few days trying to make sense of this loss, and I keep coming back to the same thing, and the same thought,” Powe said. “Chicago’s a better place because Riley was here. His fingerprints are all over the city. In the bike racks people use every day, especially the Riley Racks. They’re in safer streets around schools. They’re in bus priority projects. They’re in countless improvements that most people will never notice.”

“A preventable incident, not an ‘accident,’ has brought us here today,” said Eli Orozco of Gage Park Cyclists, which has helped organize the pro-Archer project rallies. “This was the fifth [time a driver has killed a bike or e-scooter rider on Chicago streets] this year. We have passed Roman Havelka, Astrid [Carrillo Noguera], Violet Harris, Damian Gomez, and now Riley O’Neil. We are tired of adding names to this list. there is no reason why so families should have ever been destroyed with loss.”

Bike Grid organizer and Bridgeport resident Andrew Mack praised O’Neil’s accomplishments. “But there is still so much work to be done,” he aded. “Just today, another cyclist was doored on the same block where Riley was killed. Thankfully, that cyclist rode away.” CPD confirmed this.

“Now is the time for our alderpersons to show courage,” Mack continued. “Now is the time for action. No more people should die in the streets because their lives are not valued as much as driver convenience. We need a safe, connected bike grid in Chicago, today!” The crowd applauded wildly.

Encouragingly, some alders are listening. At least six of the fifty City Council representatives were in attendance, including City Hall Progressive Caucus members Ald. Ramirez, Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (27th), Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), and Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th), and moderate Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), whose district includes Bridgeport.

Like Ramirez, Lee is about to see a conflict between some constituents who passionately want lifesaving infrastructure installed on Halsted with no more excuses, and others who will insist that converting parking spots will destroy local businesses. How does she plan to handle that challenge?

“We’re going to continue to listen to everybody in the wake of this tragedy, and the second crash today,” she replied. “There’s a lot of work to be done. There’s a lot of work to educate the public about the dangers that they pose at motorists, whether they’re parked or driving. We’re working on some immediate steps that we can do from an education perspective.”

She mentioned that a driver who failed to yield while turning struck her nephew while he was riding a bike in nearby Chinatown and broke his ankle. “So it’s personal,” she said. “It’s going to take all of us working together to get physical infrastructure that protects people better.”

After speaking with Lee, I caught up with the ride. Here are a few photos from the two-mile tour through Bridgeport.

When we got to the Bridgeport business district, we rode north to the police station, where the die-in took place, with a generally respectful response from bystanders.

At the end of the five minutes, someone yelled, “Rise up for Riley!”

Afterwards, we headed back to Palmisano Park, where the sky was blazing. People got emotional at the close of the event.

On my way back to the business district, I saw the shrine to the Complete Streets planner, assembled on a Riley Rack. It too was illuminated.

Let’s hope that, along with bike parking, school safety zones, and bus priority projects, one of Riley O’Neil’s legacies will be convincing alderpersons to support street designs that will save lives, car parking be damned.

Update 6/9/26, 5:45: Chicagoans Who Bike’s Viktor Köves provided this photo of Chicago’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Chair Ald. Daniel La Spata on last night’s ride.

If you value Streetsblog Chicago’s livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work. Thank you.