Elmhurst Salt Creek Trail debate
Elmhurst has a strong bicycle trail network and many devoted bicycle riders, but this is what we have to deal with concerning a short link needed for the Salt Creek Greenway Trail:
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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on
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16 bikes per train on the Blue Line (provided they're running 8 cars). And yes, you can fit your bike into any car if your handlebars are narrow enough. Road bars usually can go through any door style.
mike w. said:How about doing a large group ride down these "narrow and dangerous" residential streets this weekend?
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Permalink Reply by Chris Hainey on
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The price to pay for being to NIMBY:
THIS APPEARED IN THIS MORNINGS TRIB - CHICAOLAND EXTRA - WEST.
Some want to stay off beaten path
Elmhurst residents who oppose the proposed Salt Creek Greenway Trail being routed down their streets plan to voice their objections Monday at a Park District board meeting — even though the topic will not be addressed by the board until its Aug. 9 meeting.
The 24-mile path is nearly complete. It would link the Busse Woods Forest Preserve to Brookfield Zoo, and has been on the drawing board for 15 years and under construction for five.
A Park District advisory board is recommending that the trail be routed down three blocks of Rex Boulevard where cyclists would pick up the greenway trail. The Park District had also considered using Fairview Avenue for the route, but discarded the idea after residents objected.
Now residents of Rex Boulevard and other streets where the route had been considered have posted red and white signs on their lawns to make sure their objections to having cyclists traveling their streets is known.
The Park District has no idea how many cyclists the path would attract. The Park District does know, however, that a decision must be made. State grants and nonprofit contributions are footing the bill for the path construction and the Park District will have to repay $2.1 million if a connection is not made.
— Annemarie Mannion, Triblocal.com
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Permalink Reply by Bernard Joseph Hannigan on
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Yes comrade, soon we will be riding NEEKID thru all of Elmhurst....BBBWWWWAAAAA
chrisc927 said:While I find fault with the group's talking points as presented in their flyer, I think there may be some truth to their point re the 2.1M in grant money and implementation of the (original) bike plan. I'd like to see what the original plan was and possibly an accounting of where the funds have gone to date.
As president of the local chapter of The Bike-Riding, Drug-Dealing, Home-Invading Noisy Vandals Society (BRDDHINV), this damn wood chip path has been the final obstacle to our global domination of the world. Soon all will be ours!
muahaha
MUAHAHAHA
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Permalink Reply by Jerome Hughes on
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I'll be there as will other members of the Elmhurst Bike Club, and we hope many cyclists from other clubs & communities as well. If you're coming, please let us know here and say hello at the meeting, too.
My home of 48 years (moved back to buy it when parents retired) is shown on those exhibits, and I'm looking at the Eldridge Park portion of the trail out my front window as I write this.
The 34 pages are the results of the task force formed to investigate alternatives (which included mostly "anti" residents, along with a few cyclists) after a minority of the Fairview residents got the jump on cyclists at an earlier meeting and the EPD board moved not to designate streets as part of the route.
Building any of these bridges makes no sense, as they are costly and will be used by nobody more than once, after which they'll find a better route through the (completely legal) residential streets, with the bonus of not riding between two sewage treatment plants and alongside a 6 lane highway.
IDOT has rejected the idea of routing the trail alongside the highway as it violates many of their rules and guidelines.
After sending my letter adapted from Bob's to the Park Board Commissioners and my representatives, received back a response from one of the Park Board Commissioners asking if I'd give him authorization to quote it at the meeting, which I did. It explained how we welcome the many drivers who come park their autos on our street near Eldridge Park for sledding in the winter, soccer, fishing and playgrounds in the summer, and how our block changed our dead end street to parking on the east side only to improve that situation to good effect.
As to the bike boulevard suggestion, my letter also suggested if these people are really concerned about safety, then they'll be amenable to changing Rex to one-way southbound, Sunnyside to one-way northbound, and the connecting blocks of Crescent and Prairie Path to one-way eastbound and westbound, respectively, with parking only allowed on the left side and bike lanes on the right side of these blocks. If they want safety, let's give them safety in the form of less excuses for their imagined collisions that are "not a matter of if, but a matter of when" (which sure sounds threatening to me!)
Also looking for the path to be connected at all streets it passes, so everyone has efficient access to it, and for signs showing the street network with "you are here" markers to be put up at each of these access points.
Not really at all concerned with whether any particular street is designated as "the" street that connects the southern Greenway with the Prairie Path and northern Greenway, as there are clearly many streets that work well and allowing cyclists to choose what's best for their own purposes will distribute the traffic, as will the one-way street circuit on Prairie Path, Rex, Crescent, and Sunnyside.
--Jerome, who _was_ called a "retard" at 9 in the morning by a mom driving an SUV on Fairview a couple years ago, after she passed dangerously close and heard about the 3 foot law - she just had to get home to her McMansion after dropping the kids off at school a little too quickly to be able to wait a few seconds until oncoming traffic passed to look out for my safety
chrisc927 said:I'm attending. Wife may also (she's not a cyclist but loves theater).
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Permalink Reply by Robert Guico on
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Barring any unexpected developments, I will be there representing Carol Stream bicyclists.
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Thanks to all of the Elmhurst Bicycle Club members who attended. The anti crowd was in a larger number than the pro voices. There will be a meeting in August as well on this issue. Will the marauding hordes from Oak Brook and Hinsdale bent on destroying Elmhurst be kept at bay? Stay tuned.
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many thanks to all who came out to support the completion of the trail, hope to see them and more at the next meeting on Monday, August 9th
while there may have been more anti people in attendance, the only way they made this known was to get "out of order" applauding a couple of their speakers, after which the gavel was rapped and they were told that any more outbursts would cause the board to clear the room
was glad to also see many non-EBC members speak up in favor of the trail, especially the two little girls who said they ride the trail often with their Mom and have never seen more than 3 people in a ride on the trail, never have seen another child playing outside on Rex, and never have seen moving traffic on Rex - they came right out and called what these people are doing "silly" and that rang true... from the mouths of children
believe it's not all about the numbers of people who show up at the meeting but about the quality of what they say
many unreasonable hand-wringing antis claiming to be "cycling advocates" while revealing their "I'll be inconvenienced in my car!" and "I'm going to hit someone" biases and saying things like "babies will be run over because of bicycles on my street" and "it's going to take 8 minutes to back out of my driveway" and "we'll have all these _strangers_ in our neighborhood" carry a large negative weight
quite a few reasonable pro-trail people discussing facts and suggesting actual thoughtful approaches to safely getting along carries a lot more weight, imo
the park board is charged with listening and acting for the common good of all in the area, not just for those few cranks who stay inside and frighten themselves with "scary" media, and have now motivated all resources they can muster (which is still a minority in their own area, much less the town) to try to stop what's already happening and will continue to happen, whether or not they "get their way"
may the trail soon be completed, and may everyone continue to enjoy it before and after that happens!
please help make it so by attending the Monday, August 9th meeting
--Jerome
Chris Hainey said:Thanks to all of the Elmhurst Bicycle Club members who attended. The anti crowd was in a larger number than the pro voices. There will be a meeting in August as well on this issue. Will the marauding hordes from Oak Brook and Hinsdale bent on destroying Elmhurst be kept at bay? Stay tuned.
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Nicole,
I saw you and your kids leaving, but I was in the side room and did not catch the comments she made. There were a couple of vocal 'antis" in the side room that were getting agitated as well.
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Ugh. I'll be in Washington D.C. on August 9th, after having to miss last night because I had an important event to run. I'll have to make it up by repeatedly cycling up and down those streets, writing letters and getting others to go.
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nope, that "retard" lady lived on the west side of Sunnyside south of Crescent, in one of the big McMansions that back up to the path
after hearing me shout at her (only way they'll hear you, sorry) about her dangerous pass & the 3 foot law, she turned left and squealed to a stop on westbound Crescent, backed up & careened after me, chasing me up onto the sidewalk at Vallette & Fairview to offer her opinion of my IQ (which was very wrong) - when she drove away, followed her back over there to let her know what I thought of her behavior and views before continuing on my way to work
very sorry you had to deal with that sort of garbage, believe most of the people mean well, but stay inside way too much (and then only drive when they do go outside) to be aware of actual conditions where they actually live
it's pretty amazing what some people think they can get away with doing in violation of laws because "they're right" (in their mind at least)
hope she is charged for this, did you get names of any witnesses? did anyone else reading this witness it?
--Jerome
Nicole Stanton said:Hey Jerome! Did the lady who called you a "retard" have bright red wavy hair? I'm guessing the lady who put the propaganda together on the website may be this same lady who threatened me at the meeting last night. She lives at 736 Fairview.
Jerome Hughes said:--Jerome, who _was_ called a "retard" at 9 in the morning by a mom driving an SUV on Fairview a couple years ago, after she passed dangerously close and heard about the 3 foot law - she just had to get home to her McMansion after dropping the kids off at school a little too quickly to be able to wait a few seconds until oncoming traffic passed to look out for my safety
chrisc927 said:I'm attending. Wife may also (she's not a cyclist but loves theater).
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Permalink Reply by Davo on
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It looks as if these "people" will be signing their licences away by their threatining actions and speach. I just hope no one gets hurt by these t-baggers. Be safe out there.
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