Clybourn Avenue would benefit from protected bike lanes

by Michelle Stenzel

Last week, the public was given its first glimpse of the changes being proposed to Clybourn Avenue from Division Street to North Avenue. You can read media coverage of the meeting on DNA Info Chicago and on Streetsblog Chicago.

As you know from our prior post, Clybourn north of North Avenue received buffered bike lanes last year; however, the southern section still has no bike lanes at all. 

Here's a map that shows in red the section of Clybourn that's in the current project area (it also includes one block of Division):

Red shows the parts of Clybourn and Division that are in the project area. Purple lines are existing buffered bike lanes. This screen shot was taken from the Active Transportation Alliance's Bikeways Tracker.

This project is not in Lincoln Park, but we're writing about it because every improvement for bicycling on nearby streets is important for the entire bicycling network, and in this case, it could greatly benefit Lincoln Parkers who ride on Clybourn to get to Larrabee or Halsted to head northbound. 

Clybourn Avenue bike commute video

by Michelle Stenzel

In follow up to my post reviewing the new buffered bike lanes on Clybourn, Michael Reynolds and I rode the entire stretch during a Tuesday evening rush hour and filmed it using Michael's GoPro camera. It took us 17.5 minutes to traverse the 2.8-mile route from North Avenue to Belmont, but I edited it into a 5:54-minute video. 

Our impressions remain the same as my original review: It's a nice upgrade for experienced bicyclists, in that the lane is wide and clearly marked. The long stretches in between intersections are smooth and calm: Notably, on this evening, there was not a single driver exiting or entering their car, pulling in or out of a parking spot, nor a single taxi, truck or other vehicle blocking the lane. The weakness is that the lanes disappear before, during and after intersections. So Clybourn could certainly be improved, but it's a solid diagonal street for now.

Enjoy the video!

Clybourn Avenue bike commute from Michelle Stenzel on Vimeo.

We're 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.

Observations on the way to Chicago's SoNo district

by Michelle Stenzel

I decided to walk to the SoNo area today to pick up some items at Whole Foods. What? You've never heard of the SoNo neighborhood? Well, it's that "no name" area that's SOuth of NOrth Avenue, and west of Halsted. You know, where the giant Whole Foods is. When I first saw a billboard years ago for a developer trying to tout that new moniker, I wondered whether they had thought through the negative connotations of the phrase "So No". The name doesn't seem to have caught on, as the Whole Foods itself claims to be in Lincoln Park, when the border of Lincoln Park is actually more than a block away.

In any case, I walked mostly along North Avenue starting at Sedgwick, snapping pictures along the way, and thought that I'd share my observations about the state of walking, bicycling and generally the  feel of the area. There's not much to celebrate.

North Avenue is a state route that was designed for high-speed, noisy motorized vehicle traffic.

To begin with, North Avenue west of Sedgwick is a wide, car-oriented highway with a design that encourages high speeds. Drivers regularly exceed the 30 mph speed limit, induced by the wide open lanes and long distances between signallized intersections. There are no bike lanes of any kind. There are sidewalks, but not much to look at but the sides of townhouse developments and mini-mall parking lots. (More -->)

Thoughts on Clybourn Avenue

by Michelle Stenzel

The Clybourn Avenue retail corridor between North Avenue and Cortland (Armitage) has fantastic potential. Specifically, the .3 miles from Willow to Kenmore could be downright charming. The buildings are mostly beautifully refurbished buildings that used to house warehouses or light industry. They're  of approximately uniform height and built close to the street, forming a nice border.

Frame stores, hot dog shops, grocers and national retailers are found on Clybourn between North Avenue and Cortland/Armitage. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

There are national retailers already in place, and they must be doing a decent business, because most have been there a number of years. These include Patagonia, Talbots, Loft, Gymboree, and the Crate and Barrel outlet store, among many others. Shop windows have nice displays of merchandise. There are two major grocers: Aldi and Trader Joe's (although the TJs is hidden away, on the second floor, off of a parking garage, requiring a serpentine route to reach it on foot from Clybourn). 

This density of retailers is enough to make this a potentially charming destination for people strolling along for a little window shopping before popping into Frank and Dawg's for lunch. But the reality is far from it.