The Chainlink

CityLab Article on Curbee in Chicago

The Curbee Invites Cyclists to Rest at Red Lights

A Copenhagen urban-biking staple finds its way to Chicago.

Image One of the first cyclists to try Curbee in Chicago. (Steven Vance )

Cyclists in Chicago just got a sweet new treat called Curbee, a streetside footrest and handrail that will make waiting for the red light much more enticing. 

Designed and installed by Steven Vance and Ryan Lakes, both active members of Chicago’s cycling community, the Curbee now lives at the corner of Milwaukee and Ogden Avenue. 



Though it's definitely inspired by biker footrests in Copenhagen, the Curbee is designed a little differently. For example, where its Scandinavian counterpart features a circular steel tube, the Curbee uses a square tube in order to prevent vandalism via pipe cutters. And taking a note from Chicago bike racks—which Vance says have proven largely durable—the Curbee is mounted right on top of the sidewalk rather than buried within it. 

The finished product may look simple, but the actual process of getting the Curbee up and running was long and complicated. Initially conceived in March 2013, the rollout for this first Curbee took over a year. Just to get started, Vance and Lakes had to enlist the help of a slew of local organizations: The bicycle law firm FK Law  funded the project, the Pedal to the People bike repair service fabricated the Curbee, and local bike non-profit West Town Bikes sponsored the public-use permit required for any sort of "street furniture." And in order for the permit to be approved by the City Council, the Curbee also had to get the blessing of the Chicago Department of Transportation and the local alderman. When the permit was finally approved about a month ago, the Curbee was installed shortly after. 

Vance and Lakes, testing out Curbee. 

Interested in installing a Curbee in your city? The team behind Curbee is taking custom orders online. The cost for one Curbee will range between $600 and $1,200, depending on the length of the rail, the height of the curb, and additional color and design options. But before shelling out a grand for the steel, it’s critical to first understand how a Curbee addition will affect its surrounding area. For example, if you want to put one in a business district, talking to the business alliance there might uncover whether the location is really a suitable one. In a phone interview, Vance says they had monitored the current Curbee location to make sure there was little pedestrian traffic—and of course, no bus stops that it would block.

In the week following its installation, Vance and Lakes have been observing how people are interacting with the Curbee. For example, they've noticed that the Curbee’s function is not totally obvious to some cyclists at first. That’s why the pair is considering adding a graphic of a footprint on the footplate, so people can look down and think, Oh, my foot belongs there. In any case, Vance expects people to catch on quickly over the next few weeks as they watch one another figure out their way around the new amenity.

(h/t Streetsblog Chicago

All images courtesy of Steven Vance.  

Views: 2139

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Which is really saying something.

Jeff Schneider said:

+1

Eli said:

This is the stupidest Chainlink argument in a while.

Sharp angular steel so close to the street is begging to mangle a biker.

I see these as as dangerous as those steel planters on the south side of North Ave by Weed Street. Someone's gonna get bumped or worse here, biker will fall/bail and the damages will be magnified by the non-moving, non-flexing steel idiot rail or planter. Maybe some spikes on top to keep the pigeons off. Hell, why not?

Wasn't a biker or ped killed here last year? Like, right where the idiot rail is?

Christ, this is stupid.

It was a guy sitting on the bench seen in many of the pictures, killed when the speeding taxi rolled over onto him.

Charles_T_Duck said:

Sharp angular steel so close to the street is begging to mangle a biker.

I see these as as dangerous as those steel planters on the south side of North Ave by Weed Street. Someone's gonna get bumped or worse here, biker will fall/bail and the damages will be magnified by the non-moving, non-flexing steel idiot rail or planter. Maybe some spikes on top to keep the pigeons off. Hell, why not?

Wasn't a biker or ped killed here last year? Like, right where the idiot rail is?

Christ, this is stupid.

I wonder what the lifespan of this item will be so near to the street?

With snow plows, street sweepers, and right-turning semi-trucks this thing is bound to get hit and mangled by a rolling death-box sooner or later.  As was mentioned earlier, someone was killed by a taxi while sitting on that that very bench behind the rail. 

I also second the warning about this being another immovable object to crash into and perhaps injure a bicyclist.  It reminds me of the park benches some localities insist on installing 8" off of the pavement of many MUP's.  Someone is going to end up head-first into this thing and no mere styrofoam talisman hat is going to be able to absorb that kind of shock.

It seems like a neat idea.  But I feel it is misplaced.

A properly-adjusted saddle  is no place to be sitting when your bicycle comes to a stop (with the exception of a recumbent)  Learn to ride your bike properly and come off of the saddle and straddle the top tube as you come to a stop.  Push off with your strong foot and raise back and up again into the saddle when you start moving. 

I see too many riders in this city who think they should be able to reach the ground with their foot from the saddle.  If they can, then their saddle is way too low or are riding a bike with a dangerously low bottom bracket that is bound for some serious pedal-strike. 

I think I may have a way to mitigate the danger of this device.

It may take a little work within the system to get done, but what about installing a series of hazards/challenges leading up to the potentially deadly curbee, to assure that only the safest and most technically skilled riders can even get near it? I'm thinking of something like a sewer cave-in about right where a bike would ride, maybe with a traffic horse just peaking out of it for aesthetics, followed by a skateboard ramp (I don't have any strong feelings on which direction the ramp should point), then a simulated tree stump (maybe some kind of composite/resin-like material), followed immiediately by a pea gravel patch, and then sand, and then a series of longitudinal road cracks about wide enough to grab a 23mm tire, and then a sudden 10" drop-off in the asphalt leading up to the curbee?

How about criers ringing bells and waving flags at intervals coming up them?

I think that could fly if the city could sell advertising space on the flags.
 
James BlackHeron said:

How about criers ringing bells and waving flags at intervals coming up them?

They could maybe put the unofficial motto of the city on the flag:

What the f*ck are you looking at?



h' 1.0 said:

I think that could fly if the city could sell advertising space on the flags.
 
James BlackHeron said:

How about criers ringing bells and waving flags at intervals coming up them?

Jennifer on the lake said:

But how is this a useful amenity? We've all gotten by pretty well without them so far, and I don't see that this one piece of metal will be the thing that finally convinces somebody to transportate.

"Transportate"?  Really??

FINALLY a place where I can hang my wet, sweaty bike shorts out to dry!

Eric R said:

How is it a *useless* amenity? Someone stops at a light, instead of putting his or her leg on the ground they can stay on their saddle. It is simple design that makes riding a bike a teeny tiny bit better.

Jennifer on the lake said:

But how is this a useful amenity? We've all gotten by pretty well without them so far, and I don't see that this one piece of metal will be the thing that finally convinces somebody to transportate.

Eric R said:

Amenities for people on bikes can lead to more people on bikes, which can lead to more amenities for people on bikes... which could possibly increase funding for better bike infrastructure including more bike racks - which would put more people on bikes.

 I'll be gladly using these when the opportunity arises.

I wish I took the pic of it being used as a bike rack Friday night, someone put their front wheel completely over it and and locked it up.  I thought it was pretty funny.

RSS

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service