A free, standalone, self-cleaning public restroom will be installed in Chicago next year, according to Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st). When it’s up and running, it’ll be the first of its kind for the city, matching those that have long been a fixture on European streets.

For years, La Spata has pushed to bring more public toilets to the city. While he couldn’t share an exact date or location for the restroom in the 1st Ward, he told the Sun-Times the project is “rapidly” moving forward.

“It’s been a lot of waiting and waiting and waiting, but it’s finally happening,” La Spata said.

The restroom, also called an automated public toilet, comes from JCDecaux, the France-based advertising company that also supplies and maintains Chicago’s bus shelters and other public furniture.

JCDecaux is pro

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