I will tell you the real reason:
Crain's reports:
The Chicago Cubs want to shut down car traffic on Addison and Clark
streets adjacent to Wrigley Field during games, team officials announced
today.
In a move to extend the security perimeter around the
stadium, the Cubs say they are in advanced talks with the city about
limiting traffic on both streets to city vehicles and buses during all
events at the park.
The push, the team said, comes from a Major
League Baseball security recommendation for ballparks to maintain at
least a 100-foot perimeter of control in every direction.
>>>>
Security is a poor, red herring excuse. The real reason the team wants to control the intersection like a border crossing is that Ricketts is building an
alcoholic plaza at Clark and Addison in which he wants to trap and
control pre- and post-game sales to fans. This is not a safety issue at all - - - in fact, it creates one.
Addison
and Clark are MAJOR through streets. Police and fire departments need
access through this intersection. And what about the buses bringing people to/from the game? Talk about a major disruption. Then adding a hotel across the street, where will the taxi's go? Double park on the side streets?
It is not cynical to think that every move made in the last four years ownership has been an attempt to corral each and every dime from the public for any tangential Cubs experience, including bullying competing bars and venues for their patrons. Just because you own the entire block does not mean you have a right to close the streets for your own private parties.
UPDATE: 1-19-16
From the Chicago Tribune:
The Cubs' idea of closing Clark and Addison streets to automobiles on game days is a non-starter, according to Mayors office.
Cubs
business President Crane Kenney floated the idea at the Cubs Convention
last weekend of shutting down the main thoroughfares to allow the team
to create a 100-foot security perimeter around Wrigley Field.
But mayoral spokeswoman Kelley Quinn shot down the idea, which
would exponentially worsen already brutal traffic in congested
Wrigleyville when the Cubs play.
"Of course we are not going to
close Clark and Addison," Quinn said in an email. "Safety and security
are everyone's top concern, and we will work with the community, Ald.
(Tom) Tunney and the Cubs to achieve that without having to shut down
two major roads in a neighborhood."
Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the team is trying to
comply with new Major League Baseball security requirements, including a
zone around each ballpark within which vehicles get screened. "This
wasn't just a trial balloon," Green said of Kenney's talk of closing the
streets. "This was a way to try to meet the security mandates."
Green
said the team plans to work with the league and the city to meet the
standards, hopefully by Opening Day. But he would not say whether
there's a plan to do so without closing the streets. "We're going to
keep talking and working with the parties, but at this point there
aren't any specifics," he said. "If there are other ways to meet the
mandates, we will listen."
>>>> Again, when does MLB control the streets of a major metropolitan city? And when can MLB "mandate" anything on how a team runs its ball park? This is merely a cynical expansion of closing all the streets around Wrigley to have an enclosed theme park atmosphere controlled by the Cubs.
