What's in store for Lincoln Park under the Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan?

by Michelle Stenzel

The visually exciting news of last week was the opening of the Loop's first two-way protected bike lane on Dearborn Street, of course. Who can resist the sight of our mayor high-fiving smiling bicyclists? Well not me, that's for sure. 

Somewhat overshadowed was the release on the same day of the Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan, which lays out the upgraded infrastructure that we hope to see installed citywide over the next eight years. You may remember that I was a volunteer leader of the north side Community Advisory Group, and Bike Walk Lincoln Park co-chair Michael Reynolds attended all the meetings faithfully, as did many other BWLP supporters. (You might spot yourself in a picture or two in the plan.)

Please download the plan and read it (link directly to PDF here)! Don't rely on this flimsy blog entry to summarize for you; there's just too much there. It's a beautifully done 57-page document that takes you through the process of putting together the plan, and then describes the recommendations for each area of the city. 

(More after the jump)

Can this idea help improve the Fullerton/Halsted/Lincoln intersection?

by Michelle Stenzel

The six-way intersection of Fullerton, Halsted and Lincoln is in need of improvement, that's for sure. 

Crossing it as a pedestrian is a hassle, since the width of each leg is very wide, and the amount of time given to cross is relatively short. Worst of all, if the direction of your travel requires you to cross more than one leg, just to continue walking on the street you're already on, the signals are timed J-U-S-T so that you will always have to wait another entire cycle before continuing on your way.

Google map view of the Fullerton/Halsted/Lincoln intersection.

According to the Chicago Department of Transportation's 2011 Pedestrian Crash Analysis, this intersection is tied for 9th in the city for the highest number of crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians, with 19 crashes between 2005 and 2009. 

These problematic six-way intersections are common in the city, and Chicago's new Pedestrian Plan contains an intriguing graphic of an intersection that can be improved. The initiative is under the "Connectivity" section of the Plan, which highlights ways to build a more connected network that prioritizes pedestrian access.

New nearby bike lanes on Halsted, Elston and Clark!

In the past few weeks, new or upgraded bikeways have appeared close to Lincoln Park! It's funny that many have come near, but none are within the boundaries of our neighborhood. Below is a screen shot of the Active Transportation Alliance's ongoing bikeways tracker, taken on August 25, 2012 (I added the circle).

Blue lines = completed bikeway upgrades. Red lines = proposed/future upgrades. Purple line = bike lane
upgrade in progress. Green circle = invisible force field keeping improved bike lanes out of Lincoln Park. 

Even though none of the new bikeways are in our neighborhood, they are useful when we ride to and from other destinations, of course. I checked them all out and took a few pictures to share.

Protected Bike Lane coming to Dearborn Street in the Loop!

by Michelle Stenzel

This news is really huge: Mayor Emanuel announced that the first protected bike lane in the Loop will be in place by the end of this year! One year ago, the Loop got its first bike lane of any sort on Madison Street (see our review of that lane in this prior post), and now we’re about to get an actual protected lane.

Here’s part of the official announcement:

By the end of this year, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) will install 34 miles of new bike facilities, including: 

• A two-way north-south protected bike route through the Loop on Dearborn Street from Polk Street to Kinzie Street.  The City will also extend the Kinzie bike route east to meet up with this new route.  The Dearborn bikeway will separate bicyclists from high-speed traffic and include bicycle signals to separate bicycle and motor vehicle conflicts.

Here’s my map with the Polk-to-Kinzie stretch marked. I measured for you: It’s 1.2 miles long:

Map showing the stretch of Dearborn that will receive a protected bike lane, from Polk Street in the south to Kinzie Street on the North.

I’ve got lots of experience riding on Dearborn already, since it’s part of my northbound bike commute home, and let me tell you, it’s the worst part of my commute. 

The scoop from Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan guru Mike Amsden

by Michelle Stenzel

If you’ve been to any of the citywide Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan meetings, you’ll probably recognize Mike Amsden, who is a Bike Program Project Manager at CDOT. He and others are working hard to create the final eight-year S4C2020 plan, and also concurrently drawing up new and upgraded Chicago bikeways to be installed this season. 

For bicyclists who are dying to know what’s next on the horizon for Chicago’s bike network, he’s THE man to talk to.

Mike Amsden presents at the north side Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan meeting in February 2012.
(Photo by Flickr user saumacus, used with permission)

He also happens to be a resident of Lincoln Park! I worked with Mike in my role as a volunteer community advisory group leader for the S4C2020 public input gathering, and he graciously agreed to answer questions recently about the ongoing bikeways being installed right now and in the coming year.

_____________________

Bike Walk Lincoln Park: There are seven miles of protected bike lanes installed in Chicago so far, almost all on the west and south sides. It seems like to date, they’re being put in where it’s easy to put them in, meaning extremely wide street width and no parking meter issues. Would you say that’s true?

Mike Amsden: Well, we began with areas in which aldermen actively expressed an interest in having them, and in which there were fewer design problems to overcome. It also gave us a chance to get experience designing them, and they give us examples within the city to show that they can be implemented successfully.

BWLP: Will the north side ever get protected bike lanes?

Clark Street near the Green City Market, revisited

by Michelle Stenzel

It's been nearly a year since we first posted on the section of Clark Street from North Avenue to Armitage, which has four lanes of fast-moving car traffic, no bike lanes, and little help for pedestrians trying to cross it. I spent a little time recently in the area during the Green City Market morning hours, to see if there are any new developments.

The good news is that more people than ever are doing the "green" thing and riding their bikes to the market. There were bikes locked up to every street pole and fence.

This also makes it very clear that we need more parking for bicycles during on Green City Market days!  Locking to a chain link fence is not ideal, since the fence links can be very easily snipped with wire cutters. Since the Green City Market has a "special events" permit, perhaps they can arrange to have bike racks placed just for the May to October market season?

Post continues after the jump --->

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. 

Chicago's proposed bike network unveiled!

by Michelle Stenzel

If Chicago's proposed bike network materializes over the next eight years as planned, it will be fantastic. The Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 contains hundreds of miles of bike facilities, and will ensure that every resident living anywhere in the city will not be more than half a mile from a bike route.

When we worked in the North Side Community Advisory Groups, we dreamed that at least some of the routes we were suggesting would actually become part of the proposed network, and they certainly have.  

You can view the entire citywide map at this link to the City of Chicago Bike Program under Draft 2020 Network. (Also check out the slide show presentation and other documents provided at that link to gain a full understanding of the plan.)

In this post, I'll just provide some overview, without much commentary, because it's a lot of information. 

Come view the draft Streets for Cycling 2020 plan on May 22!

by Michelle Stenzel

This is it, Folks, the big reveal! 

This past winter, the Chicago Department of Transportation Streets for Cycling 2020 team asked the citizens for our input about where we'd like to see safer conditions for bicycling, and we gave it to them. 

Citizens at the North Side Community Area Group of the Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan discussing "Upgraded Bikeways" in February 2012. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Many of you took part in the process, showing up at meetings, taking online surveys, or e-mailing your comments, suggestions and feedback. The CDOT team took that input from the north side and from all over the city, and came up with their draft plan, which will be revealed at a series of four community meetings starting on May 22! 

Pedestrians first! and other news

by Michelle Stenzel

We've been slacking off lately on the blog, and don't even have a cold winter as an excuse. Hopefully the warm weather and longer evening daylight hours will provide us all with inspiration to get out there to enjoy Lincoln Park on foot and on bike. 

PEDESTRIANS FIRST!

If you've been stopped at a red light in Lake View or the Loop recently, you may have noticed a new traffic signal configuration: While the light remains red for car traffic, the pedestrians waiting to cross in the same direction are exclusively given the "Walk" signal for a few seconds. This is called "Leading Pedestrian Intervals" or "Pedestrian Head Start" because it allows the people walking time to enter the crosswalk first to improve their visibility, and to discourage turning car drivers from cutting them off. 

A busy crosswalk at Michigan and Randolph. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

We love these for many reasons, not the least of which is that it sends the message that people who walk are valued, and given a little extra time to get where they need to go. It's a small gesture, but it encourages walking. You can read a little more about them and see a Streets Film on the subject at this link.

Bike lanes: Shared, conventional, buffered and protected

by Michelle Stenzel

We're going to be discussing potential locations of bike lanes in the next few weeks to help gather community opinions about where people would like to see major bike lane improvements on Chicago's north side. The CDOT Streets for Cycling 2020 project team is asking each Community Advisory Group (open to all, e-mail me at Michelle at KairiesStenzel dot com to join the North Side Community Advisory Group) to identify which streets we would like them to consider for upgrades in bicycling infrastructure.

The types of lanes that are considered "upgrades" are nicely laid out in the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, but since viewing that involves paging through lots of data, I'm making it easy for you by highlighting some basics. All images below are taken from the NACTO guide.

Neighborhood greenway survey results, and on to protected bike lanes!

By Michelle Stenzel

Thank you to everyone who took the survey about potential routes for neighborhood greenways on the north side. Based on the votes and comments on 16 routes, below are the top ten that have been submitted to the CDOT Streets for Cycling 2020 project team to be considered initially. We also submitted the other six for consideration at a future time, since each route got some measure of support, and we couldn’t bear leaving them on the cutting room floor.

Dickens Street near Oz Park is kind of already a neighborhood greenway. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

As you peruse the list, keep in mind that these are only recommendations for good routes to be considered, as determined by community members. Inclusion on this list does not mean that the street in question will in fact become a neighborhood greenway!

Take the community survey about potential north side neighborhood greenways!

By Michelle Stenzel

The Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 Community Area Group co-leaders (including yours truly) invite your input on potential north side streets to be transformed into neighborhood greenways!

Please read about neighborhood greenways (sometimes called bike boulevards) first and watch the video link, so that you have a clear idea about what makes a good candidate, and what kind of treatments can be implemented to make the street optimal for bicyclists, pedestrians and residents of the street.

Wouldn't it be nice if bicycling were always this peaceful? Olive Park near Ohio Street Beach.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Thanks to the maps produced at last month’s open house downtown, our December community group meeting, and all of your e-mailed comments, we have already collected significant feedback about routes suggested for potential neighborhood greenways. 

Community input sampling from the December North Side Streets for Cycling meeting

"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper."             ---- Steve Martin   

There was a great turnout of nearly 25 people the North Side Community Advisory Group meeting at Gill Park on December 17. The assignment of the day was to provide information on existing conditions for bicycling on the north side to the CDOT team who will put together Chicago’s new Streets For Cycling Plan 2020. We were asked to map and list specific destinations, barriers and assets.

Barriers are pink, gaps are purple, destinations are blue and assets are green.

There were eight community area maps for each of Lincoln Park, Lake View, North Center, Lincoln Square, Edgewater, Uptown, West Ridge and Rogers Park. Each one resulted in a map and a few pages of input. We’ve provided pictures of a few of the maps as examples.

Streets for Cycling - North Side community meeting!

The North Side Community Area map was marked up with 

comments and stickers at last weekend's Open House event.

.(Photo credit: Flickr user trapgosh)

Did you drop by the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 Open House last weekend? You can read full coverage of the event on Grid Chicago on this specific post as well as elsewhere on that website.

If you weren't able to attend the first citywide event, fear not. 

Now it’s time to focus on Chicago’s North Side community area, which we’re going to do at our first North Side Community Area Advisory Group meeting this coming Saturday, December 17, and we hope you’ll join in. Who is a member of this “advisory group”? You are! It’s completely open to all who live, work or venture to the north side. 

Our first assignment from CDOT for this meeting is to identify within each North Side neighborhood the top destinations, barriers, gaps and assets. That is, the CDOT planners need our specific knowledge of our neighborhoods to tell them the places to which people already ride their bikes (or what would be a popular destination if it were safer?), and what are the barriers or gaps that make it difficult to do so currently?

They’re looking for very specific input, so think about these questions as they apply to you and your neighborhood, and come to the meeting ready to talk with others from your area, mark up maps and make lists. This input will go directly to CDOT's project team to be incorporated into the grand plan.

Streets for Cycling 2020 North Side Community Advisory Group Meeting

WHERE: Gill Park (first floor), 825 W. Sheridan Road 

WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 17 from 11a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

RSVP appreciated: Michelle@KairiesStenzel.com

We hope to see you there!

Seize the opportunity to help shape Chicago’s north side bikeways

Lincoln Park is in the North Side Community
Area for purposes of the Streets for Cycling Plan
2020.

Hopefully you've heard the news already that the Chicago Department of Transportation has launched its Streets for Cycling Plan 2020, which aims to gather community input and then use the information to “develop a citywide network of 150-250 miles of innovative bikeways that will make bicycling a safe and easy option for all Chicagoans, from 8 years old to 80.”

For purposes of gathering community input, the S4C team has divided the city into nine community areas, and Lincoln Park is in the North Side Community Area, which also includes the neighborhoods of Lakeview, North Center, Lincoln Square/Ravenswood, Uptown, Edgewater, West Ridge and Rogers Park.

There are three ways to get involved right now, in the next few weeks.

First, keep up on the latest of the project team by “Liking” the Facebook page www.facebook.com/StreetsForCycling2020 . You’ll also be able to post specific suggestions and comments at that site. If you’re not a Facebooker yet, you can try checking the CDOT Bicycle Program page for Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 ,  because they will post information there as well.

What cyclists on sidewalks are telling us

This bicyclist chose to use the sidewalk along Clark near Wisconsin Street, where there is no bike lane.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park) 

We see people riding bicycles on the sidewalks in Chicago a lot. For anyone age 12 years or older, this is illegal activity. No matter how slowly they're riding, their combined weight and velocity can cause serious injury to pedestrians. Signs on Sheridan Road warn that violators are subject to a $250 fine, "temporary disabling of bicycle" and arrest. (Disabling their bikes and arrest? Yet a taxi driver who runs into an elderly woman in a crosswalk and causes her death on this same street simply receives two tickets, see our prior post on this.)

In any case, with the exception of shared-use paths like the Lakefront Trail, bicyclists are supposed to ride on the street. They certainly have the right to be there, but they're not often welcomed. Chicago has about 5,000 miles of roads but only 125 miles with markedbike lanes. Some motor vehicle drivers seem surprised, if not outright hostile, when they see bike riders on the asphalt next to them.

What are the law-breaker cyclists telling us when spurn the road? They're telling us they've done a mental calculation involving the speed of the motor vehicles, the lack of space for bikes, and the risk of getting doored, and said, no thanks: I'll take the sidewalk, and stay alive.

They're telling us we need more safe bike lanes. 

Chicago doesn't yet have a network of bikeways that the average bicyclist can use. The average bicyclist. Not the daredevil in skinny jeans on a fixie with no brakes. The average bicyclist. Me, you, your next-door neighbor, and your Aunt Jean visiting from Rockford. 

It's difficult for adults and children to ride bicycles together in Chicago without breaking the law.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Families who want to ride their bikes face a dilemma. When a child under 12 years old rides on the sidewalk, is the accompanying adult really expected to ride on the street, on the other side of trees, planter boxes and a solid wall of parked SUVs? According to our ordinances, the answer is yes.

Tourists on rental bikes mix it up with pedestrians on the sidewalk along Michigan Avenue.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Increasingly, the lack of infrastructure is becoming a problem for a growing number of tourists, who rent bikes and have a reasonable expectation that there are safe routes to take to the popular destinations. Unfortunately, their assumption is often wrong. We've seen out-of-towners choosing the sidewalk in the Loop and throughout the popular lakefront neighborhoods. 

We're advocates of following the law. Endangering pedestrians is not acceptable. And yet, when we see cyclists on the sidewalk, we can't get angry. We hear the message they're sending.

Fortunately, Mayor Emanuel has promised to install 100 miles of protected bike lanes in Chicago in his first term of office. These lanes will be a way for me, you, and your Aunt Jean to ride bikes, and keep everyone safe. We can't wait.