Join us at upcoming social and advocacy events!

by Michelle Stenzel

Autumn is here, and it's going to be a busy few weeks for Bike Walk Lincoln Park. We hope you join us for some of the social and advocacy events we've planned, or that we're supporting.

Touches of autumn seen in Chicago's Olive Park. (File photo, Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Lincoln Park Kidical Mass

Date:  Sunday, September 29, 2013
Time:  Gather at 9:30 AM for a 10:00 AM departure
Place:  Oz Park, near main gate of playground, Webster and Orchard, 701 W. Webster

Kidical Mass is a free, fun, family bike ride, organized through the umbrella group Chicago Kidical Mass. Children of all ages, accompanied by their parents or caregivers, are invited. See the CKM website for details. No RSVP required to join the ride, but to be added to the Lincoln Park Kidical Mass e-mail list, send a note to Lacey at LPKidicalMass@gmail.com

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Creating a Better Clark Street workshop summary

by Michelle Stenzel

On August 20, 2013, dozens of community members came together to evaluate Clark Street from North Avenue to Armitage in a workshop co-hosted by Bike Walk Lincoln Park, 43rd Ward Alderman Michele Smith, and Active Transportation Alliance.

The many comments and suggestions have now been distilled into a document that reflects the overall assessment of the current state of the street and possibilities for changes.

Crossing Clark Street at Menomonee. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

You can read the full summary of the workshop here and here is the Active Transportation blog post by Brenna Conway, who lead the workshop.

The problems include:

• Unsafe to cross Clark Street;
• Speeding car traffic makes other streets users feel unwelcome;
• Confusing mix of all traffic modes makes for chaotic experience for all users.

The suggestions include:

• Right-sizing the width of the street;
• Separation of travel modes for clearer delineation of space;
• Addition of assistance for pedestrians, like refuge islands or raised crosswalks;
• Better enforcement of traffic laws.

The next step is that this document and an even more comprehensive list of all the comments and suggestions will be forwarded to the city planners at the Chicago Department of Transportation, and then we'll wait to see what they suggest to help create a better Clark Street!

It's scary riding on Clark Street right along the green expanse of Lincoln Park, but it shouldn't be.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

See my Flickr photo set of the current conditions on Clark Street here.

Follow us on Twitter @BikeWalkLP

Review of the new Clybourn bike lanes

by Michelle Stenzel

New buffered bike lanes have been installed on Clybourn Avenue. I rode the new lanes from North Avenue to Belmont to check out how they look, and how they "feel" to a bicyclist. 

My quick takes: These buffered lanes are definitely a big improvement over what we had before, which was nothing. For experienced bicyclists, they are a nice upgrade. However, due to factors preventing the installation of ideal bike facilities, they contain many stretches with little or no help for bicyclists. Those "weak link" sections will be challenging for cautious riders, and they won't help us to attract many people to give bicycling in Chicago a try.

I'll show you what I mean with pictures, but first, a little background.