Increase of Public Restrooms in the City of Chicago
The lack of public restrooms has been a social problem that has been affecting a great deal of the population in Chicago. The main problem that this issue causes is the lack of “accessibility” to them. There is so few accessible public restrooms to the point where people don’t have a chance to use them. However, now there is great news, after a long wait of more than two years.
Daniel La Spata, 1st Ward Alderman, and Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd Ward Alderwoman, took the initiative for this program and have been pushing since 2021 for this to happen. Furthermore, they had announced plans for a pilot program to make bathrooms more convenient and accessible for the public. With this program they will essentially, provide a basic human need service to those that need it in the communities, by implementing more public restrooms. Especially because the need for them increase, particularly for those who are homeless and those who might have certain health conditions.
The Deal with JCDecaux
To this, the city of Chicago will install a handful of new public bathrooms in different communities all around. Chicago will pick the locations of these restroom installations based on central and highly traveled neighborhood corridor areas. They will start with the installment of four high-quality public bathrooms based on the deal that the city established with JCDecaux.
JCDecaux is a France-based company, and it was chosen as a partner after Chicago was in search for potential collaborators. JCDecaux has a history of designing and operating fully accessible self-cleaning public restrooms for 40 years. This company has a total of 2,500 toilets in 28 countries. In fact, Paris being the world’s largest network of automatic toilets, according to a 2022 company release.
Alderpersons La Spata and Rodriguez-Sanchez Public Statements
Alderman La Spata announced last week the following statement,
The bathrooms are ready for installation. We have never been closer to having a public bathroom pilot in Chicago.
This is such a great milestone considering how long this took since it was first on the table to execute this program deal.
He even emphasized that the program could even bring more restrooms to the city of Chicago depending on the success of the first four restrooms. Also, according to Block Club, Ald. La Spata will release more details regarding the timelines of when the bathrooms will be installed.
On the other hand, Ald. Rodriguez-Sanchez also highly supports this project. In 2022, she expressed:
This is a basic human need. It’s something that everybody needs. Yes, we have people that have a higher need because people are unhoused, or because people have particular conditions.
But this is something that benefits everybody, that makes our public spaces more humane, and something that I think that we need to adopt.
These are just a couple of many leaders that support the program. Also, business owners, neighbors, city officials, and transit operators have also agreed to having more public restrooms sites.
Why Is This a Positive Plan?
This is going to contribute positively and support many communities in the city. The reason being because based on a 2021 Tribune investigation, it was found that fewer that 500 structures in the city contain free public restrooms with no type of restrictions of barriers to allow access. Which essentially shows why there should be more implementation in regards to public restrooms.
Additionally, at a meeting back in 2022 regarding the proposal about the new restrooms, Alderman Roderick Sawyer, 6th Ward, agreed and expressed how there is indeed a serious need for more public restrooms around the city, he said, “particularly for public transit drivers and employees.”
Overall, this plan can lead to even more public restrooms if there is success with the first handful, and limit the long walking distances that people would have to take just to go to the restroom. And they’re essentially and effectively going to help people all across the Chicagoland area.
Written by Jeanette Sanchez
Sources:
Block Club Chicago: Chicago Is Finally Getting Public Restrooms
NBC Chicago: Chicago set to get new public bathrooms. Here’s what we know so far
WGN Radio 720: Extremely Local News: Public restrooms are coming to Chicago
Floods Royal Flush: Chicago Public Restrooms Shortage: The Porta Potty Solution
Featured Image Courtesy of tyle_r Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Phillip Pessar Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
