Chicago has more than 4,000 miles of streets that serve motorists, buses, cyclists and pedestrians, and 1,900 miles of alleys, providing convenient access to buildings, garages and loading docks.  
 
Each year, CDOT works to rebuild and renew this system by resurfacing and reconstructing miles of arterial and residential streets, building and maintaining hundreds of miles of sidewalks, and resurfacing dozens of alleys each year.

These roadway improvement projects may also include utility upgrades, new curbs, gutters and sidewalks, new lighting and traffic signals, landscaped medians and parkway tree planting.

While residential street resurfacing is funded through local tax dollars, most arterial street resurfacing and reconstruction is funded through state and federal sources.  On arterial streets, the work also entails building ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps at intersections.
 
CDOT streetscape projects aim to rehabilitate Chicago’s neighborhood commercial areas to create flourishing public places for Chicagoans to live, work and play that celebrate the uniqueness of each community.
 
The Green Alley Program is the latest in a long line of environmentally friendly initiatives launched by CDOT.  Green Alleys incorporate a variety of characteristics, including permeable pavements, open-bottom catch basins, reflective pavements and recycled materials. CDOT also constructs and maintains landscape medians
 
CDOT builds and maintains hundreds of miles of sidewalks each year, working with local aldermen to determine locations for repair.  CDOT also operates the Shared Cost Sidewalk Program, in which property owners and the City share the cost of a new sidewalk.  Property owners pay a fixed per-square-foot cost that is well below what a private contractor would charge.