The Chainlink

Wells Street at Merchandise Mart

Last week on our way to the MBAC meeting, we noticed cones.

Are those still there?

It was mentioned during the MBAC meeting, but I don't remember what they said about it. 

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Permalink Reply by David P. on June 27, 2012 at 8:06am

With relatively new things (to Chicago, but to most US cities as well) like bicycle-priority lanes, a driver-education campaign certainly wouldn't help. If you pay attention, you'll see that a startlingly large number of drivers don't even appear to know basic stuff like the priority rules for a 4-way stop, so expecting them to know how to handle stuff like this is a bit much. 

David

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 27, 2012 at 10:41am

How are we going to receive such education?


Jenn_W said:

I agree that we ALL need to be educated on the proper way to use this lane.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 27, 2012 at 10:58am

How about street classrooms?

But seriously, is there any sort of public ad campaign going on in the media to correspond to the new push to put in more bike infrastructure?   Stuff like the 3-foot rule, what sharrows and other shared lanes are -and what that all means?   

I don't watch TV so I really don't know.   Has there been any of this?  Public service campaign-type of thing?  Are there any plans for this?   I've never heard anything about plans for this sort of thing at any of the meetings I've attended. 



Steven Vance said:

How are we going to receive such education?


Jenn_W said:

I agree that we ALL need to be educated on the proper way to use this lane.

Permalink Reply by Jenn_5.5 mi on June 27, 2012 at 11:10am

Steve if I had that answer I think I would be closer to solving the whole World Peace thing.

First thought through my cycling mind this morning was Where do I go? Do I stay right where the 'sharrows' are in the lane or do I move to the right to allow cars to pass? I assume stay in the middle, but then the question of stay in line at a stop light?

So some signage saying share/yield to bikes / Right of Way/ Etc... which of course drivers overlook or don't understand, but it's a thought.

Maybe even something as obinixouis as the LED Message Road Work (which are solar powered and under the L isn't a very solar friendly spot). Left up for a couple weeks/months until most people are used to the lane.

All the answers seem to be common sense. However...

A bicycle is a vechice and has every right to the road as well as following all the same rules. (I am not trying to start the Same Road/Same Rules Debate just trying to ponder a way to safely ride one Wells.)

As someone who doesn't own a car and bikes almost everywhere - I was confused by the road and just wanted to understand what I should be doing.

Permalink Reply by Leah Jone on June 27, 2012 at 11:28am

I had an idea a couple years ago of trying to do a mobile Burma Shave style campaign.

You would have 3-4 cyclists towing signs angled so drivers could read them (but not perpendicular to the bike making it hard to ride). The signs would have a cute, 4 line, educational poem/slogan about how to drive with cyclists.

The riders would ride legally around the city on wide streets, in bike lanes, etc and hopefully it would generate some buzz.


I suppose trying to pass four bikes towing signs would be annoying for other cyclists and could lead to dangerous situations for all, but I'd still like to try it.

Cycling in streets

ain't Mardi Gras*

Three feet to pass

Is the law

*I'm not actually any good at poetry.



Steven Vance said:

How are we going to receive such education?


Jenn_W said:

I agree that we ALL need to be educated on the proper way to use this lane.

Permalink Reply by Chris B on June 27, 2012 at 1:03pm

I think the only way to get the education is to make people re-take the written test when they renew. Then additional questions can be added, and you could remind people of rules they probably forgot.

Permalink Reply by Tim S on June 27, 2012 at 2:27pm

Rode the Wells street path yesterday to drop off my ATA bike count... I like it.

Really, do we need to add more frequent tests, what ever happened to common sense and personal responsibility? It is going to take a few weeks for traffic to catch up with the changes but take the lane and ride "fat". I had no issues with vehicles @ 6 PM.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 27, 2012 at 3:10pm

+1

Chris B said:

I think the only way to get the education is to make people re-take the written test when they renew. Then additional questions can be added, and you could remind people of rules they probably forgot.

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on June 27, 2012 at 3:33pm

+2

Chris B said:

I think the only way to get the education is to make people re-take the written test when they renew. Then additional questions can be added, and you could remind people of rules they probably forgot.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 28, 2012 at 3:41am

A bicycle is a device, per Illinois state law. This means that some laws about vehicles don't apply. You can't get a DUI while operating a device. 

Anyway, you pose a good question: how do I use the lane, and where do I go?

I think the design applied on Wells Street under the 'L' means that you should ride on top of the bicycle symbols, in between the dashed lines. The design would be more powerful if the dashed lines didn't stop. And if they continued through the intersections.

A more important question might be, "How do I drive here? How do I react or drive around people who are cycling?"

I suggested to CDOT at the last MBAC meeting that the sign "bikes may use full lane" be used here, and in other places to "spread the word" that state and city law allow people cycling to use the full lane in certain circumstances, one of them being that the lane is too narrow:

When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, motorized pedal cycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes that make it unsafe to continue along the right hand curb or edge. For purposes of this subsection, a "substandard width lane" means a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle or motorized pedal cycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

That's from ILCS 625/11-15-1505.

One thing I've learned about common sense is that it isn't very common ;)


Jenn_W said:

Steve if I had that answer I think I would be closer to solving the whole World Peace thing.

First thought through my cycling mind this morning was Where do I go? Do I stay right where the 'sharrows' are in the lane or do I move to the right to allow cars to pass? I assume stay in the middle, but then the question of stay in line at a stop light?

So some signage saying share/yield to bikes / Right of Way/ Etc... which of course drivers overlook or don't understand, but it's a thought.

Maybe even something as obinixouis as the LED Message Road Work (which are solar powered and under the L isn't a very solar friendly spot). Left up for a couple weeks/months until most people are used to the lane.

All the answers seem to be commonsense. However...

A bicycle is a vechice and has every right to the road as well as following all the same rules. (I am not trying to start the Same Road/Same Rules Debate just trying to ponder a way to safely ride one Wells.)

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 28, 2012 at 3:46am

I took the written test last year. I let my driver's license expire for about six months and I went to renew it. I studied the sample questions in the Rules of the Road booklet for about 20 minutes before taking the test. I passed the 20-question test + 10 sign identifications, with 100% correct answers, in less than 10 minutes. Another person taking the test had failed it and the DMV worker said they could try again in a few minutes. I believe you only need to get 16/20 and 8/10 signs correct to pass. That's weak. None of the questions on my test variant discussed bicycling or bicycles. I don't know if the other test variants do. 

I think there should be more questions, at least 10% of them should involve pedestrian and bicycle laws, and failed test takers must return another day. 

I'm also a fan of mobility education.


Chris B said:

I think the only way to get the education is to make people re-take the written test when they renew. Then additional questions can be added, and you could remind people of rules they probably forgot.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 28, 2012 at 3:48am

Does the Bicycling Ambassadors program count as a "street classroom"?

I don't think any public ad campaign about bicycling or bike infrastructure is occurring or slated to occur. The only ad campaign about sustainable transportation issues that has happened are ads on the road-side of trash cans and on CTA buses about pedestrian crashes and fatalities ("it could be you/your daughter/your father!").

Of which I'm not a fan. 

James BlackHeron said:

How about street classrooms?

But seriously, is there any sort of public ad campaign going on in the media to correspond to the new push to put in more bike infrastructure?   Stuff like the 3-foot rule, what sharrows and other shared lanes are -and what that all means?   

I don't watch TV so I really don't know.   Has there been any of this?  Public service campaign-type of thing?  Are there any plans for this?   I've never heard anything about plans for this sort of thing at any of the meetings I've attended. 

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