What is the Last Four Miles Initiative?
The Last Four Miles Initiative aims to establish complete, uninterrupted public access to Chicago’s cherished lakefront, fulfilling a quest shared by generations of citizens and civic leaders to preserve Chicago’s public shoreline “open, clear and free.” To achieve this goal of a publicly accessible lakefront, the Last Four Miles focuses upon the remaining portions of the lakefront where public access is banned. Two lakefront stretches which total approximately four miles are not part of the lakefront parks: two miles of land along the south lakeshore and two miles on the north lakefront where there are gaps between small parks and beaches with no continuous lakefront path. Through a community-based planning process, Friends of the Parks is preparing to propose concepts to complete these last four miles, with NO Lake Shore Drive extension, no marinas, and no commercial development.
