A large security zone around McCormick Place will be off limits to Chicagoans, and the Museum Campus, Lake Shore Drive and several major expressways and streets will be shut down before or during the NATO Summit, under a plan revealed on Friday.
All of this comes on top of a large restricted air space zone above the city. Anybody violating that airspace could be shot down.
“There will be some inconveniences, but they will be minor inconveniences,” said Gary Schnekel, director of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management. “Every effort has been made to minimize the impact.”
Metra and South Shore commuters will be able to ride the trains that run under McCormick Place.
They may be subject to TSA-style pat downs and screenings and they can expect delays for security sweeps. Service may be reduced during the summit, but those details are not yet available. Metra officials said they hoped to have a plan finalized next week.
Starting midnight May 19 though May 21, The Department OfHomeland Security plans to shut down access in a security perimeter around McCormick Place, where leaders from several countries, including President Obama, will be holding their meetings. That zone’s boundary includes 21st Street on the north, 25th Street on the south, Indiana on the west and the lakefront to the east.
Officials at a news conference on Friday said residents and business will have access during the summit. DHS is still in the process of defining a fenced off area around the summit location.
Still, some residents expressed worry about street closures and a plan to ban parking on some streets for more than a week.
