Show up and speak up for better bicycling on local IDOT streets

by Michelle Stenzel

This Thursday afternoon, Illinois Department of Transportation representatives will be at the Thompson Center in the Loop to gather input for the state's very first bicycle plan, and it's important that you make an effort to drop by. I know what you're thinking: 1/ Irrelevant: I never ride my bike outside the city and therefore don't have any stake in what goes on in the suburbs and downstate in terms of bike lanes and 2/ Useless and boring! 

On the first point: This does affect every person who rides a bike in the city. Perhaps you don't know that many of our streets are under the jurisdiction of IDOT. The agency's decisions about their design and management indeed have direct impact on whether Chicago's streets become more livable and people-oriented, or whether they remain just for the sole purpose of moving motor vehicles through at high volumes and high speeds. (For example, read background on how IDOT is currently not allowing protected bike lanes, even on streets with plenty of room for them.)

Six lanes for motor vehicles and nothing for bicyclists on the IDOT-jurisdiction North Avenue, at Larrabee.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Join us for the "Beyond the Lakefront Trail" social bike ride

by Michelle Stenzel

Do you know someone who loves to ride their bike, but really only on the Lakefront Trail? They're not alone. I spent many years riding only on the side streets to and from the LFT, which served as 95% of my commuting and recreational purposes. 

Many people are anxious at the thought of sharing a street with moving motor vehicles. However, Chicago streets have benefitted from the addition of miles of bike lanes of various types, which are a great help to keep vehicles separated as much as possible, and to raise the comfort level of people new to urban bicycling.

Waiting for a red light on the Dearborn protected bike lane in the Loop. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

To help encourage people to go "Beyond the Lakefront Trail", we're hosting a social ride next Saturday that will give people a chance to practice riding on Chicago's streets. 

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.

New Divvy stations are popping up everywhere

by Michelle Stenzel

Chicago's Divvy bike sharing system has been up and running now for eight weeks. At first there were only 75 stations installed, but the Divvy crew are installing more every day, and currently there are more than 160 in use citywide, with a goal of 300 stations by summer's end on September 22, 2013.

Those of us in Lincoln Park are lucky to have had a number of stations since the launch, and you may have noticed new ones popping up in the neighborhood over the past weeks. I went around and snapped pictures of a few of them.

One of the new stations is at the busy corner of Clark/Diversey/Broadway. This 11-dock station is on Diversey, on the sidewalk next to Walgreen's. This is a very busy shopping area, and I'm sure this will be a popular station for picking up or dropping off bikes. 

The Divvy bikes at Clark and Diversey are ready to roll. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

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Good turnout, great ideas at the Clark Street workshop

by Michelle Stenzel

The Clark Street workshop was a great success. About 45 people attended the event, which Bike Walk Lincoln Park co-hosted with Alderman Michele Smith and Active Transportation Alliance this past week. The group included neighbors from Lincoln Park, people who travel through the area on their commutes, and many representatives of the buildings bordering the area being studied.

Alderman Michele Smith addressed the crowd at the start of the workshop. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

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