The tragic death of Chicago Department of Transportation employee and bicyclist Riley O’Neil continues to reverberate throughout Chicago’s bicycling community — and now several members of the Chicago City Council are calling for concrete action to make Chicago’s streets safer.
In a September 15, 2026 opinion piece published by the Chicago Tribune, Aldermen Daniel La Spata (1st Ward), Matt Martin (47th Ward), Julia Ramirez (12th Ward), and Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) argue that O’Neil’s death was preventable and that Chicago cannot afford to reduce its investment in safer streets.
Their message deserves the attention of every Chicagoan who walks
