Particularly dangerous bike lanes

I wonder whether it would be worthwhile to identify stretches of bike lane that are unusually problematic.  To be clear, I don't mean entire routes, like the LFP or the Dearborn lanes in the Loop, which are routinely occupied by pedestrians and even vehicles.  I mean discrete stretches that present somewhat unique hazards due to their specific location.

 

Two examples of what I had in mind with suggested remedial measures:

 

1. Northbound Canal just north of Roosevelt:  This travels past a major commercial complex including a Whole Foods and a couple of restaurants.  The path proceeds to the right of parked cars, which is the primary issue.  Since it was re-striped in this manner, I don't know that I've even seen this path clear of cars, pedestrians, and shopping carts.  My most recent trip was a Sunday morning, when auto traffic was extremely light, yet the lane contained no fewer than 4 stationary pedestrians treating the bike lane as a parking lot instead of a lane of moving traffic, an abandoned shopping cart, a parked cab loading a passenger with several bags, and a perpendicular vehicle blocking the entire bike lane while exiting the underground parking garage and waiting to turn left on Canal.  This last item is the most dangerous, as I've witnessed several near misses involving cars turning into or pulling out of the garage without so much as glancing at the bike lane.  Cars turning into the garage would have to look especially closely, as their view of the lane is obstructed by the "barrier" of parked cars that sharply reduces visibility and ironically makes the lane much more dangerous.  It seems it would be worthwhile for the city or even the commercial entities themselves to address this issue though enforcement and education before somebody is killed or seriously injured.  Ideally, the barrier experiment would be ended and the lane would be relocated to its original position on the other side of the parked cars.

 

2. Southbound Halsted near Polk:  Cars use the bike lane as a parking lot as they wait for students to get out of class. You'll find 8-10 cars and vans staggered across the lane in peak hours, when it is most dangerous to pass them by taking the lane, but you'll also routinely see them in non-peak hours, as this is a large campus with residents.  The UIC shuttle busses (and misc. other busses) also often block the lane and park at odd angles, even though the area has large dedicated bus stops that do not obstruct anything.  There is no design issue with respect to cars either, as there are at least two large pull-off areas where auto passengers can be dropped off and picked on both sides.  It seems that enforcement and education would be very easy, since UIC has its own police department and vast other resources, in addition to the city's.  Cars easily could be directed to the pull-offs or even to the dead end across the street.  (God forbid young college students need to walk a few steps further than the absolute minimum.)  Yet it's been this way for years with no apparent effort to address the problem.

 

I emphasize education and enforcement, because that would be essentially free.  The city has gone to great lengths to generate revenue through cameras and other controversial mechanisms, yet it easily could send Dept. of Revenue employees out to a troublesome bike lane with a ticket book and make money though more conventional means.  The tickets are quite hefty but rarely written.

 

Thoughts?  This issue is important to the community, so hopefully we can have a civil discussion.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Allen Wrench on September 29, 2014 at 4:55pm
Permalink Reply by Jacky Chau on September 30, 2014 at 2:20am

Harrison between Dearborn and Clark where the daycare center is.  There's ALWAYS some soccer mom van / SUV parked in the bike lane.  

Permalink Reply by Dean Bekken on April 23, 2015 at 12:50pm

Spit on it

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on September 30, 2014 at 2:33am

Franklin, from Van Buren to Lake, is awful.  It is one way going north with a buffered lane on the right.  At Jackson, there is a bus stop with stopped buses and cars making right turns blocking the bike lanes.  Between Adams and Monroe, cars in the parking/standing lane don't pull up to the curb, so they are partially blocking the bike lane.  At Monroe, cars making right turns line up in the bike lane.  There are also an assortment of cars leaving parking garages and making lane changes without using signals that make the street treacherous.  Finally, at Lake, the bike lane funnels into the driving lane because there is a slight curb bump out caused by the el tracks.

Painting the bike lane green might help.  A few bollards at eastbound streets to keep turning cars out of the lane would definitely help.  There could also be signs showing what each lane is allowed to do.  The whole set-up seems poorly planned.  I don't know why a prtected lane wasn't installed.

Permalink Reply by mike w. on September 30, 2014 at 12:20pm

Double +1!! Davis used to be a great street to ride, now it's a ruin.

Permalink Reply by Dean Bekken on April 23, 2015 at 12:55pm

They goofed in making Jackson an ingress to loop, with no marked lane East of the expressway. I take Monroe; no buses, no entrance ramps, minimal parking lot complications. And you can time the lights quite well to stay ahead of traffic.

Permalink Reply by Rich S on September 30, 2014 at 5:21pm

Grand Ave west of McClurg is pretty horrible since they widened the sidewalk earlier this year. They squished the loading zone together with the bike lane. This video is from yesterday evening's rush hour and it's pretty typical. 

Permalink Reply by Dean Bekken on October 2, 2014 at 10:23am

It is also ridiculous that we can't get to the lakefront from Monroe all the way to Grand. WTF. I ride from the loop all the way up State to the underpass at North Ave/Oak Street Beach. WTF



Davo said:

The "protected lane" on Randolph just North of Millennial park seems pretty pointless to me. The whole bike lane was full of trucks unloading equipment for the Pavilion (i assume). With the amount of stuff that needs to go in and out of that place, its ridiculous to have the PBL there. It seems to me that those resources could have been used elsewhere.

Permalink Reply by Haddon on April 23, 2015 at 1:03pm

It seems a bit crass to me to complain about bad bike lanes when a couple years ago there were no lanes at all.  I'd rather have a bad lane than no lane. There are a couple interests out there trying to get lanes removed and I don't like the idea that someone would say "...and the bikers don't even think its safe"

Permalink Reply by Maurice on April 23, 2015 at 1:28pm

It seems that proper bike lane design is a proper topic on a cycling forum.  The city is experimenting with different types.  It's worthwhile to distinguish the winners and the losers.  No lane sometimes is safer than a dangerous design.

Permalink Reply by Brian on April 23, 2015 at 4:35pm

I'm still recuperating from a slipped disc in my back from a fall on the ice in the Milwaukee "protected" bike lanes near Ogden in February. The city fails to maintain the protected lanes properly, making them a danger during certain parts of the year. On the day I was injured, the streets were well salted...no ice to be seen. Normally, I would ride in the traffic lane, but in some sections it's too narrow with the protected bike lanes, so you're sort of forced to use them. I made the mistake of veering off the well-salted, dry street into the bike lane, only to realize too late it was a sheet of ice. I am personally not a fan of the enclosed lanes in winter...and in summer they collect substantial amounts of debris while streets like Milwaukee and Elston get regular street sweeping...but not in the sectioned off bike lanes.  

Permalink Reply by mweerd on April 24, 2015 at 7:37am

Maybe the conversation should be what bike lanes are safe? The only bike lanes I feel safe on are total barrier lanes like Elston between North and Chicago. Wherever you are riding and there isn't a barrier between you and parked cars on one side and traffic on the other is unsafe.

They need to eliminate the parking on one whole side of Milwaukee in Wicker park. I'd argue there's 3x as many bikers commuting on that stretch now than there was three years ago. I tell friends no need to go sky diving or bungie jumping for an adrenaline rush - just ride down Milwaukee on a Friday at 5.30pm.

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