Monday, May 27, 2013

Join us for Bike Lane Potholepalooza on Saturday!

by Michelle Stenzel
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."  Dr. Seuss in The Lorax
Pothole in the bike lane. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)
Are you tired of swerving to avoid potholes in the bike lanes in Lincoln Park? Yes, so are we, and we're ready to take action to get them fixed! We're hosting the first "43rd Ward Bike Lane Potholepalooza" on Saturday, June 1, starting at 9:00 am, and we hope you'll join us.

In April, the Chicago Department of Transportation held a citywide "Potholepalooza" in which they encouraged citizens to report as many potholes as possible via 311 and various means, so that city crews could get out in force to repair them. I never read whether it resulted in an increase in reports, but Michael Reynolds and I thought the basic idea was great, so we're going to do the same thing for bike lane potholes.

We plan to ride up and down every marked bike lane in the ward, and document each pothole via photo and address, then report them in bulk to Alderman Smith's office and CDOT. So this means we'll be scoping for craters on Wells, Lincoln, Armitage, Halsted and Clark. I'm predicting Lincoln will be the most work. Although Lincoln is a state route and therefore not under the direct control of CDOT for resurfacing and other major work, we've been advised by Ald. Smith's infrastructure specialist that CDOT is nevertheless permitted to do patchwork like potholes in the bike lanes. 

We hope you can join us! This is a big job, and it would be great to have at least 5 or 6 people to help with the tasks and just provide fun companionship as we spend some time helping to make bicycling in our area a little safe and more enjoyable for all users.

WHAT:    43rd Ward Bike Lane Potholepalooza
WHEN:    Saturday, June 1, 2013 - 9:00 am
WHERE:  Meet near the corner of Wells and Lincoln (at 1820 N. Lincoln)

Please RSVP so we can expect you and communicate in case of inclement weather: bikewalklincolnpark@gmail.com or to @BikeWalkLP

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