Seeking Glenview/Skokie commute advice

Hi! I'm looking for commuting advice up in the Glenview area. I've commuted via cycle in the city for the better part of the last decade, including the last four winters so I'm quite familiar with city routes. I recently accepted a new job in Skokie/Glenview off Old Orchard Road just west of the Edens. The new job is exciting, but driving to work everyday is not.

I live in the West Town area so commuting the entire way via bike is unlikely. The MD-N Metra line up to either Golf Road or Glenview seems like a good option. After driving down Golf Road I've ruled it out as a possible East-West route from the station. It seems like the best bet would be as follows:

1. MD-N to Glenview Metra Depot (1116 Depot St, Glenview, IL)

2. Make way to Glenview Road and head east.

3. Harms Road south to Old Orchard

4. Old Orchard west to to Lockwood Ave.

Does this seem like a feasible route? It appears I can jump on the North Branch Trail for some of this route, but from my searches around here the NBT is apparently not maintained (much) during the winter.

Really hoping it's possible to keep biking for at least SOME of my new commute. I'd appreciate any advice pertaining to this route, cycling in the burbs, or perhaps another route I have overlooked. Thanks!

Views: 873

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve G on December 12, 2015 at 12:26pm

In case you want to ride up there from West Town, here's a route that's 13 miles. A bit more than an hour's ride not sprinting. I think that might be less time than the whole trip if you take the train. Lincoln avenue is very wide till Howard st, then it's narrower, but mellow. The rest of the streets are also mellow riding, except for the short stretch on Old Orchard road. 

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11458245

Basically, it's Kedzie north to Lincoln, then all the way out to Laramie, then 

left onto Wright Terrace 10.0 mi
right onto Lockwood Ave 10.1 mi
left onto Church St 10.9 mi
right onto Central Ave 11.3 mi
right onto Old Orchard Rd 12.3 mi
left onto Lockwood Ave

Sweet ride. 

Permalink Reply by Tayter on December 19, 2015 at 6:16am

This looks great! Definitely going to work up to this and give it a try (maybe in the spring). Longest my bike commute has been is about 8 miles each way.

Permalink Reply by Steve G on December 19, 2015 at 6:18am

Excellent! If you can do 8 miles with ease, 13 won't be much of a stretch. 

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on December 22, 2015 at 4:42am

Elston/California/Lincoln are all great routes up toward Old Orchard.  I am not a big fan of the South end of the NB trail, I think its choppy and not as fast as Lincoln or California.   I love Lincoln Ave up there and take it whenever I'm going to Wilmette or Old Orchard from the Loop.

Permalink Reply by Steve G on December 22, 2015 at 4:47am

For sure. The NB trail is picturesque, but really, when I want to get somewhere I do not want to ride on a leisurely winding path. Same goes for the Channel trail that runs along McCormick Blvd. 

Permalink Reply by David Barish on December 22, 2015 at 5:30am

If you are taking the train this is easy and mostly on trail. Take the MD-N (Milwaukee) line to Morton Grove. Go north from the station and cross Dempster St. at the light.  You will be on the North Branch Trail. Take that to Old Orchard Rd and to work. Easy peasy.

Riding  from West Town?  Why not?  Take Milwaukee to Kimball. North on Kimball all the way until it dumps into Lincoln Village.  You can either pick up the Channel Trail behind Starbucks or ride through the lot and the sidewalk on the east tside of McCormick to the corner of Devon/McCormick. Cross  the street  and you are on the channel trail. Take that to Church. West on Church to Harms. Right on Harms. It is easy to bake at there for  one half mile. At the corner of Golf I think it's safer to go onto the North Branch Trail for the  next half  mile up to Old Orchard. Take that to work.  

Permalink Reply by Steve G on December 22, 2015 at 6:04am

I ride Kimball between Lincoln and Elston almost daily. I have grown to dislike it quite a lot during rush hours. When the rush hour no parking is in effect it looks like a nice route, but I have had more close calls due to motorist aggressiveness there than on Kedzie. 

(and to continue my whining :D )Personally, I find the Channel trail annoying with it's pointlessly meandering path. It seems as if it had not occurred to the  designer that a cyclist might want to get from point a to point b via a straight line, as opposed to a recreational outing with a picnic basket and parasol. ;)

Now what would be cool, would be a curb protected lane to the right of McCormick Bl, cut into the park land.

Permalink Reply by Tayter on June 30, 2016 at 3:15am

OP here! I wanted to pop back in and thank everyone for the advice. I've been taking the MD-N to Glenview and biking the three miles to my office for a while now and it is definitely saving my sanity versus sitting on the Edens for an hour.

With the weather so nice, I've been biking all the way home some of the time utilizing Steve G's route via Lincoln / Kedzie all the way to Grand and Western. I even discovered a nice off road trail through Skokie that is largely pleasant aside from a few annoying crossings.

My new question is, are there any good alternatives to Lincoln? It's doable but not great. At least during the late afternoons most of the traffic is stopped.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on June 30, 2016 at 3:34am

I used to ride to Skokie and back and avoided Lincoln. I agree - it's really not a great option at that point. I would jump on the North Channel Trail that goes along the river until it ends at Lawrence Ave. There are more than a few options at that point - if you go East on Lawrence, you can take Damen to continue South. 

If I am coming from Highland Park and doing a longer ride, I tend to head South on California/Dodge. Eventually, you can meet up with Damen to take you the rest of the way home.

Permalink Reply by Steve G on June 30, 2016 at 3:42am

North Channel Trail to Main, then west on Main, which has a bike lane, you can avoid Lincoln entirely. 

Permalink Reply by Tayter on June 30, 2016 at 3:49am

I'll have to look at those. I've been picking up the Skokie Valley Trail at Main and  taking that south until it dumps me out onto Lincoln. Then Lincoln all the way to Jersey / Kedzie. Kedzie is more or less fine except around Addison with all the shopping plazas and weird intersections.

I've been avoiding the North Channel Trail as it dumps me east of the river. Damen is going a bit too far east for me as I live west of Western at Grand. Maybe I could get off the North Channel some place and backtrack west a few blocks to Kedzie?

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on June 30, 2016 at 4:02am

Heading South, you can always take California from Montrose - it has a pretty nice bike lane as it continues South. I'm not as familiar with the N/S bike routes further West.

RSS

Groups

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

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service