Labor Day Protest On Kennedy: How O'Hare Drivers Will Be Affected

CHICAGO — An anti-violence protest — the third of its kind this summer — is set to shut down a stretch of the Kennedy Expressway near O'Hare International Airport on Monday. Organizers of the Labor Day demonstration will be demanding for the resignations of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Supt. Eddie Johnson, as well as urging local lawmakers to invest more in the city's South and West sides and to reopen 50 city schools that have been closed under Emanuel's administration.

Protesters plan to gather around late morning Monday, Sept. 3, at the Kennedy on-ramp at Cumberland Avenue. The march then will proceed west along the expressway for about a mile toward the airport, closing that stretch to holiday traffic.

Here's what drivers using the Kennedy Expressway on Monday will need to know about the Labor Day protest. (Get Patch real-time email alerts and daily newsletters for Chicago. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

When: Demonstrators will begin to gather around 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 3. The march is set to officially begin at noon, according to organizers.

Where: The march will begin at the Kennedy's Cumberland Avenue on-ramp and move west toward O'Hare for about a mile to River Road.

Travel Delays and Alternate Routes: Park Ridge police Chief Frank Kaminski told the Daily Herald that motorists shouldn't be surprised by longer-than-usual drive times caused by the protest. Park Ridge officers will be at the starting point of the march to help Chicago and Illinois State Police, the report added.

RELATED: Labor Day Protest To Close Kennedy Expressway Near O'Hare Airport

"We are trying to prepare for all contingencies," Kaminski said. "We want make sure everybody is safe and secure and traffic is able to flow through the area."

Drivers going to O'Hare are urged to avoid the Kennedy and take Mannheim Road or River Road to the airport, the report stated. Motorists using the westbound Jane Addams Tollway or the Tri-State Tollway to get to Interstate-190 and O'Hare shouldn't be affected by the protest, the report added.

Police Response: The Rev. Gregory Livingston, interim pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in West Humboldt Park and one of the protest organizers, told the Chicago Sun-Times that if the demonstration drew enough people, some activists could "jump over the median" and clog the Kennedy's eastbound lanes.

RELATED: Anti-Violence Protest Closes Lake Shore Drive, Ends At Wrigley

Supt. Johnson, however, reiterated "that shutting down expressways is illegal," the report stated. And Illinois State Police Maj. David Byrd said demonstrators would not be allowed on the Kennedy.

“There are several options that we’ve given [Livingston]. He knows what they are. … Traffic will be uninterrupted. That’s the plan," Byrd told the Sun-Times, adding that the goal of police Monday was not to make any arrests.

Street-Closing Protests: If the Labor Day protest goes as planned, it would be Chicago's third anti-violence protest this summer designed to disrupt traffic along a major street or highway in or around the city. Chicago police estimated around 150 people participated in the Aug. 2 march to Wrigley Field that briefly shut down Lake Shore Drive. Organizers, though, put attendance at about 500.

RELATED: Dan Ryan Shut Down By Hundreds Of Protesters (VIDEO)

On July 7, hundreds of demonstrators led by the Rev. Michael Pfleger marched on the South Side, closing the north lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway. That protest had the support of Emanuel and Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson, something Livingston and organizers of the latest demonstrations have criticized.

No arrests were made at either demonstrations.

More via the Daily Herald and the Chicago Sun-Times

A protester participating during the Aug. 2 anti-violence demonstration that marched along Lake Shore Drive to Wrigley Field. (Photo by Amber Fisher | Patch)