Lake Shore Drive or Lake Shore...?

Chicago is a very lucky city. With 33 beaches and an 18-mile paved bike trail, an ample parking at most beaches, Chicago's citizens really get the full opportunity to enjoy the summer at the lake. And for out-of-towners, its easy to get to most of these beaches via Lake Shore Drive. But every year in Spring, there is a bike ride held, Bike The Ride. The main mission of these ride-goers is to turn Lake Shore Drive back into a place where kids can play, families can barbeque, and cyclists and roller-bladers can cruise without the worry of getting hit by a car or running into slow-joggers on the crowded lakefront bike-paths.

Now, I ride my bicycle probably a bit more than the common citizen of Chicago, and I also have a car to get around with as well. I can see both sides of the issue. Lake Shore Drive truly can be an eyesore, and it covers a stretch of real estate that probably could equate to billions upon billions of revenue for the City of Chicago if they were to depave the Drive and sell off parts of it to investors or realtors. This is what I foresee happening if they were to ever (which I don't feel they would even consider) depave the Drive. It wouldn't equate to more beaches, trails, and playgrounds, at least not entirely. Furthermore, if Lake Shore Drive were to be depaved, those that live off of Marine Drive adjacent to Lake Shore Drive would be stuck with an immense amount of traffic that Los Angelens would be afraid of. So much traffic is saved from local streets, especially in Chicago's Loop, by Lake Shore Drive. It serves as a bypass to all of the car traffic that goes on east of the Drive. I agree that it really is not the best location for a bypass 'highway,' given its proximity to one of the most beautiful lakes in the midwest, but for all practicality sense (and economic sense), tearing down the Drive would be an awful idea. There are ample bike-paths along the lake, and tons of parking and green space as it is. In an ideal world, no one would be driving and traffic would never be an issue. But we must face the facts and accept that this would not change under any circumstances. We have to keep the Drive to keep our sanity.