Crews promptly arrived Friday morning to begin the cleanup outside the United Center, just hours after celebrations wrapped up at the four-day Democratic National Convention.
Outside the arena, crews dismantled the security fencing one by one and removed the barricades.
Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications said crews will work through the weekend to take everything down as quickly as possible. The priority, however, will be vehicle security checkpoints.
“I’m ready for it to disappear right now,” said resident James Redding.
City officials plan to reopen Damen, Wood, and Adams and most major intersections by Saturday afternoon. By Sunday morning, Cermak from Michigan to Indiana will be cleared. By 8 a.m., streets surrounding McCormick Place – where a number of convention events took place – will be reopened.
“They did the best they can do,” said resident Sylvester Doyle. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, it just was too much trying to get in—I had people up here visiting.”
Doyle lives near Washington Boulevard and Wolcott Avenue. He’s been helping family from Alabama who fell on hard times.
As residents prepare for things to go back to normal, despite the closures and detours, they know history was made in their neighborhood.
“I’m glad they did bring it here,” said Redding.
The city hopes to have the streets reopened and everything cleared out by Monday.