CDOT announces plans for protected lanes on King, 31st and 55th‏

Taking advantage of a sweet tailwind, on Monday I pedaled south on the lakefront
to Kenwood Academy for a 4th Ward community meeting where CDOT's Mike Amsden
outlined the city's proposal for new protected bike lanes on several miles of King Drive,
31st Street and 55th Street:
http://gridchicago.com/2012/cdot-proposes-road-diets-protected-bike...

Keep moving forward,
John Greenfield


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Permalink Reply by Gin on February 29, 2012 at 4:32am

I grew up right off 55th street. This is great news! I used to walk it to the lake front, but never biked it due to the high speeds and not being confident/knowledgeable enough to take a lane. And oh how we hated Monoxide Towers (maybe that was the towny name?) for the barrier it made for north/south travel. That said, I think traffic in the 70's was much lighter. So many people in HP walked and biked.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on February 29, 2012 at 6:19am

Me too! In the meantime, I've been taking 33rd from Halsted to MLK, and then cutting through the highrises there to Rhodes which I take north to 31st, by which time there is only a block or so left, which, given that it is usually bereft of peds, I sometimes ride on the sidewalk. Protected bike lanes will be awesome on 31st!

h' said:

I don't have much of a personal relationship with 55th or King Drive, but "protecting" that particular stretch of 31st would 'fix' the nasty aggressive part that makes me not want to use it to get to the lakefront.

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on February 29, 2012 at 7:52am

The great thing about these three proposed routes is that while so far the city has been installing short snippets of protected lanes scattered around town, this would be a coherent network that would provide access to the lakefront.

Permalink Reply by S on February 29, 2012 at 9:26am

They're still called the monoxide towers or the toasters and yes they do disrupt north-south routes through hyde park.  Depending on the time and day, traffic on 55th can be fairly light.  I see people regularly run the a red to get across 55th on their bikes while cycling.  

Gin said:

And oh how we hated Monoxide Towers (maybe that was the towny name?) for the barrier it made for north/south travel. That said, I think traffic in the 70's was much lighter. So many people in HP walked and biked.

Permalink Reply by Mark on February 29, 2012 at 10:26am

Studies show most people are on their bikes while cycling.  :)

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on February 29, 2012 at 11:55am

What about while peddling?

Mark said:

Studies show most people are on their bikes while cycling.  :)

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 29, 2012 at 2:22pm

+1

John Greenfield said:

The great thing about these three proposed routes is that while so far the city has been installing short snippets of protected lanes scattered around town, this would be a coherent network that would provide access to the lakefront.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on March 1, 2012 at 10:23pm
I'm all for the bike lanes but after this very mild winter and the terrible condition Kinzie was in I'd rather just have a painted lane.
Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on March 2, 2012 at 3:11am

How was Kinzie in a terrible condition? Please describe.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on March 2, 2012 at 5:35am
3 measurable snows this season. Either uncleared, lightly salted or so salt covered skidding and tire slippage. The area by the park was uncleared the part by the apts. was clean, assuming by the bldg. maint. company. Throwing salt on the path from a bucket?
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 2, 2012 at 6:30am

In warmer months, I often use 31st or 55th/Garfield (in combination with CTA or Metra) to access the lakefront or Hyde Park.  Under current conditions, riding from the red line station at Garfield to Hyde Park can be a life threatening experience due to fast, aggressive driving.  I welcome the addition of lanes there and hope it will help make Garfield safer near the Ryan.

Howard - I like your idea about a bike/ped bridge over the south branch at 33rd.  I never heard about any previous plan, so I can't add any insights on this.

Permalink Reply by blair on March 2, 2012 at 6:48am

I feel the same way.  This is my first winter biking and while I really lucked out with how mild it was, the most dangerous part of my commute after each significant snow was the Kinzie bike lane.  When you're commuting during rush hour, it's not always possible to merge into traffic and take the lane.

A protected lane makes you feel safer, but only in clear conditions.  Really wish they would have thought out how they planned to clear the lane of snow/ice before it was built.

Mike Zumwalt said:

3 measurable snows this season. Either uncleared, lightly salted or so salt covered skidding and tire slippage. The area by the park was uncleared the part by the apts. was clean, assuming by the bldg. maint. company. Throwing salt on the path from a bucket?

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