Review of the new Fullerton shoreline improvements

by Michelle Stenzel

The year-long Fullerton Revetment Project has wrapped up, and officially opened for public use once again. The main purpose of the undertaking was to improve the shoreline, and protect infrastructure and the Theater on the Lake from the lake water.

The view of the Chicago skyline from the edge of the new Fullerton revetment. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

The plan for the Fullerton Revetment Project.

A large portion of the lake has been filled in to provide nearly six acres of new park space. There’s new grass, sapling trees, and giant prairie stones that provide seating.  

Six acres of new parkland at Fullerton. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

The whole area feels a lot bigger, with more room the just breathe and relax. With the great views of the downtown skyline, I’m predicting this new parkland will become a popular spot for wedding and portrait photographers to bring their clients. Public space along the lakefront is precious and well-used, and this is definitely a valuable addition to the shoreline.

Bike boxes, curb bump outs and more planned for Lincoln and Halsted near Children's Memorial site

by Michelle Stenzel

The final plans for the Children's Memorial site have been released and approved by the city's Chicago Plan Commission. All documents are available for viewing via links provided on Alderman Michele Smith's website. I've reviewed them and will highlight some of the positive changes that are planned for biking and walking.

BIKEWAYS

The documents include plans for continuous bike lanes on Halsted and Lincoln along the project site. Below is a document included in the plans, over which I've added green highlighting to make the lanes more visible. 

McCaffrey Interests' Planned Development exhibit, with my green highlighting added.

A few things to note: 

Opportunity is knocking: Follow up thoughts on the Children's Memorial redesign

by Michelle Stenzel

I attended the latest community meeting on the Children’s Memorial Hospital redevelopment site last week. More than 500 people came to hear the presentation by architect Joe Antunovich of Antunovich and Associates laying out the newest plan. 

There was a very big turnout of people at the Children's Memorial Redevelopment community meeting on January 14, 2013. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Although there were some concerns expressed about the heights of the proposed buildings, most community members spoke in support of the plan. You can read more coverage about the meeting and further opinions on the plan on DNA Info Chicago, Streetsblog Chicago, and Transitized.

We provided our opinions on the new plan last week based on the presentation posted online. Today we're adding just a few further thoughts that have materialized through the community meeting. (More -->)

Our thoughts on the new Children's Memorial site plan

by Michelle Stenzel

A new proposed plan has been released for redevelopment of the Children's Memorial Hospital site, and we recently reviewed the proposal to evaluate its design in terms of walking, biking, transit and public spaces. It's a large site with many facets to the plan, and you should review the PDF of the presentation, which you can download from Ald. Michele Smith's web page, or attend the community presentation on Tuesday evening (January 14, 6:30 PM at DePaul Student Center). 

View of the new Children's Memorial proposal toward the southeast, with Lincoln Avenue on the right.
(All images in the post are from McCaffrey Interests presentation PDF unless otherwise noted)

The design of all the new buildings looks very nice! The external design of the new buildings is bright, airy, clean and modern. The plans call for preservation of historic buildings worth preserving, and lots of retail right where it's needed. (More -->)

Much to celebrate for biking and walking in Lincoln Park!

by Michelle Stenzel

In the last few weeks, there have been much work done that helps make biking and walking in Lincoln Park safer and more pleasant; that's our mission, and so we're thrilled to see it happening. In case you haven't spotted these new changes, we'll provide you with some photos for an overview.

HALSTED BIKE LANES

There are new buffered bike lanes on Halsted Street, from Fullerton to Diversey! Previously, there was only an old-style bike lane, which paint was so faded as to be pretty much invisible most of the time.

The new buffered lane on Halsted north of Fullerton has an outside buffer. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Buffered lanes are not as comfortable to ride in as separated lanes, in which the bike lane is separated from moving traffic; this is still not a lane that I would take my daughter on, or a senior citizen relative. However, for experienced current bike riders, the buffered lane is an upgrade from what we had before. --->

Why are signs needed forbidding bikes on the Fullerton sidewalk?

by Michelle Stenzel

Street signs help us remember what is and isn’t allowed on the streets and sidewalks of Lincoln Park. However, I’ve noticed lately that they sometimes reflect unmet needs of people wishing to undertake legitimate actions. I wonder whether it wouldn’t be better to solve the problem of the unmet demand rather than simply forbidding the behavior. 

This is the first of a two-part post on this subject. Today I'll discuss signs forbidding riding bikes on the sidewalk, and in the next installment I'll provide examples of other signs and behaviors.

Signs threaten arrest of people riding bikes on the sidewalk along Fullerton. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

I noticed an entire series of signs forbidding bicycles on the sidewalk along Fullerton from Lincoln Avenue to Stockton Drive.

Clark and Fullerton: Busy, crowded, and in need of TLC

by Michelle Stenzel

On a recent cold and overcast Saturday morning, Michael, Andrew, John and I converged at the intersection of Clark and Fullerton to observe, document and make recommendations for improvements. We evaluated that intersection as well as nearby Fullerton and Lakeview. Although our focus was on making the intersections better for pedestrians, in the spirit of applying a "Complete Streets" philosophy, we kept in mind all all users, including bicyclists, transit riders, and drivers.

The crosswalks at Clark and Fullerton in Lincoln Park are always busy.  (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

We began with noting that this is a very busy intersection for all modes of transport. The housing stock is dense, with many high rise condos close by along both streets. To the north and south on Clark, there are dozens of commercial establishments. Two well-used bus lines, the 22 Clark and 36 Broadway, go through the intersection on Clark. (There is no Fullerton bus line here because the service ends at Halsted.) Clark Street is also a very popular bicycling route, and is in fact a designated Spoke Route on the Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan. Fullerton is a main access route to get to DePaul university and other points to the west, as well as the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Lakefront Trail and other points to the east.

We evaluated the intersections of Clark and Fullerton, and Lakeview and Fullerton.

EXISTING POSITIVES

All of this "busyness" is a positive for the intersection: We noticed that all users seemed to be aware that this is a place where it's necessary to be alert and careful. Vehicle speeds did not seem to be excessive, and this may be partly due to the presence of the red light cameras here, but the sheer number of vehicles and people in the space itself keeps speeds down, and that's good.

Much more ---->

A virtual ride to the lake on the new Fullerton bridge

by Michelle Stenzel

The Fullerton Parkway bridge rebuild project was completed at the end of December and I've now had a chance to view the final result a few times. My overall opinion remains the same as it was on this post in March 2012, when Michael and I first learned of the plans days before demolition began: It's unfortunate that an entire sidewalk/multi-use trail was removed at this very important access point to the Lakefront Trail because it eliminated a natural, direct, and very well-used route. 

I made a video of the route to get to the lake arriving by bike from parts west on Fullerton. It's a little rough, but I'm new at making, editing and uploading videos, so take that into account.

 

In addition to the problems I mentioned in this follow up post of missing sidewalk, missing crosswalk and wide turn radii, I note that the off ramp from Lake Shore Drive is now a double-turn lane, with just a puny stop sign that will supposedly halt the drivers who were barrelling down LSD at 45 mph only 100 yards prior, and who are eager to make a right turn and continue on their way (the offramp is seen in the video at  1:38). I'm predicting a lot of motor vehicle traffic blocking the only crosswalk we have left.   (Following added January 8, 2013:) Update! This will not be simply a stop sign permanently. They are installing a traffic signal there as we speak. See my further thoughts in the comments section below.

John Greenfield of Grid Chicago wrote an article for New City that comments on the project and quotes from this blog.

Have you been on the rebuilt bridge? What are your thoughts?

Revisiting the unfortunate Fullerton Parkway bridge redesign

by Michelle Stenzel

The construction on the Fullerton Parkway bridge began in March and is scheduled for completion in December. I had written previously about how the project will be detrimental to people who are walking or riding a bike to the Lake Front Trail in this prior post. The information I had then was from a written description of the project provided to the public, and notes taken at a presentation I attended.

I’ve since obtained the drawings of the planned finished product so you can clearly see how this will be a step in the wrong direction for our city’s walkability and bikeability.

This shows the scope of the project:

This shows the existing conditions from an aerial view:

Fullerton Parkway access to the lake front is third-highest in the city

by Michelle Stenzel

You've heard our thoughts on the Fullerton Parkway bridge project on this prior post. We have had many conversations with people on- and off-line on the topic, and in the end, we're not fully convinced that the final result will be a net gain for people walking and riding bicycles to the Lake Front Trail; however, we're going to take the positive steps of working within the confines of the project to try to make the design as pleasant as possible for users who are choosing active transportation to traverse the area. (Join us at our next Bike Walk Lincoln Park meeting on 4/16 to contribute ideas, details below.)

Pedestrians head east over the Fullerton Parkway bridge on a Sunday afternoon in March 2012, the day before demolition and removal of the sidewalk was scheduled to begin.  (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

But today's post is to point out why this little segment of Fullerton is so important. You already know from our prior post on the subject that there is NO public transportation service on Fullerton within a mile of the Lake Front Trail, because that ends at Halsted. So, to access the trail, many people walk or ride bicycles across the bridge to the LFT. It always feels crowded, but we never knew there were statistics on the usage rates. Until now.

Fullerton Parkway bridge project disappointing for walking and biking

By Michelle Stenzel

Construction crews will be breaking ground next week on the much-needed reconstruction of the Fullerton Parkway bridge over the lagoon, near Lake Shore Drive. Apparently the planning, design and approval process occurred years ago, prior to the reign of our current mayor, CDOT commissioner, and alderman. 

Satellite view of the Fullerton Parkway bridge project, with south sidewalk eliminated to add a lane for eastbound car traffic. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Many elements of the redesign will be great improvements, like replacing the crumbling bridge structure while replicating its Art Deco facade, improving the north-south underpass for people using the gravel path to eliminate standing water and make full use of its width, and eliminating the center pier of the bridge to better accommodate rowing activities on the lagoon.

Unfortunately, the plans also have elements that are detrimental for people walking and riding bikes on Fullerton to and from the lake front trail. I attended the meeting Wednesday night at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in which CDOT staff members presented the plans and answered questions.

Why is Fullerton always jammed up with cars?

We’ve been thinking about transportation gaps lately, because one of the assignments in the Streets for Cycling 2020 plan recently was to identify gaps and barriers to bicycling within north side neighborhoods. Chicago has plenty of gaps for safe accomodations for bicycles, but there are gaps in other services, as well, and it leads to visible consequences.

Did you ever wonder why Fullerton Parkway, from Halsted to Cannon Drive, is perpetually clogged with automobile traffic? It’s because people are given few alternative means of traversing that stretch: No bus service, and no bike lanes.

The Fullerton 74 bus line does not serve Fullerton east of Halsted/Lincoln. Its service begins 8.5 miles to the west, near Harlem on the city’s western boundary, but as soon as an eastbound #74 reaches Halsted, it turns south, then east on Webster for a few blocks, then makes its turnaround to head west again by going north on Lincoln. Here’s the route it takes:

The Fullerton Avenue bus does not serve the stretch from Halsted to the lake front, leaving a nearly one-mile service gap.

So this means that if a person takes the bus from any point west, with a destination anywhere close to the lake, they must disembark at Halsted and walk the rest of the way, which at nearly one mile, is not a short distance. Fullerton Parkway from Halsted to the lake is a pleasant walk, but it takes an average person 20 minutes to walk that far.