After parking complaints from locals, a West Side protected lane is being changed to a buffered lane

The Chicago Department of Transportation recently installed protected bike lanes on Independence Boulevard in Lawndale, an underserved community on the city's West Side. 24th Ward Alderman Michael Chandler signed off on the design a year ago. But after locals complained that they felt unsafe exiting their cars in the new "floating" parking lanes, and that the new configuration makes church and residential parking more difficult, Chandler blasted the lanes at community meetings and demanded that they be changed to allow curbside parking.

CDOT will be repainting the lanes this winter to convert them to buffered lanes, which do not provide a physical barrier between cyclists and moving cars, at an estimated additional cost in the low $10,000s. I talked to CDOT deputy commissioner Scott Kubly to get his perspective on the issue, and learn about the department's strategies to avoid this situation in the future:

http://gridchicago.com/2013/state-of-independence-the-protected-bik...

Keep moving forward,

John Greenfield

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Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on January 7, 2013 at 6:41am

Not sure about the boulevard routes further south. The folks at the Hub housing co-op on Marshall would probably know the latest.

You're talking about Sacramento through Douglas Park, right? Sacto doesn't connect with Indy.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on January 7, 2013 at 7:17am

Howard - Did you mean Sacramento to Douglas Blvd.?

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on January 7, 2013 at 7:26am

Complaints from locos (as in auto driving dependents bent on mindlessly destroying the environment).

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on January 7, 2013 at 7:36am

Because they live on Marshall.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on January 7, 2013 at 7:47am

I called it a minefield.


h' 1.0 said:

The curbside lane along Sacramento coming south off of Independence is a moonscape-- some of the worst pavement I've ever seen anyone try to pain bike lanes on top of.

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on January 7, 2013 at 7:54am

I believe you had to contest your ticket to get it thrown out.

h' 1.0 said:

I'm curious about your statements that parking tickets on Independence were "thrown out."
When I talked to the folks at the 12th ward office about the ticketing on Marshall, I was told that the residents had to go through the usual process of contesting them on an individual basis, and there was no other way.

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on January 7, 2013 at 11:28am

What does the term "underserved" mean in the OP first sentence?  Does it mean that Lawndale is underserved in terms of biking infrastructure or underserved in city services in general?

 

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on January 7, 2013 at 11:53am

Very good question Juan. I meant "underserved" in terms of city services in general, retail, etc., but it also applies to bike facilities. Lawndale, and most low-income neighborhoods in Chicago tend to have fewer bike facilities than more affluent areas, although that may change soon because it's easier to install protected lanes on the wide roadways of the South and West sides than the dense North Side.

The term "underserved" is appropriate in Chicago, where segregationist policies by the city government, the real estate industry and other entities resulted in large areas of concentrated poverty. Here's a good article by the Reader's Steve Bogira on the topic: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicago-politics-segregation-a...

In the past these low-income areas were intentionally neglected, and they still don't get their fair share of city resources. Don't get me started on how the TIF program, originally a tool to encourage development in "blighted" neighborhoods, is now being used to funnel money away from public schools and parks to provide tax breaks for new corporate headquarters in the Loop.

But let's not get too far off-topic here. If you'd like to discuss the terminology issue much further, please drop me a line at John[at]GridChicago.com.

Permalink Reply by We all have an inner Beast... on January 8, 2013 at 12:10am

My question is : Did anyone do any research in these areas BEFORE they wasted tax-payer money on putting in these lanes in this area? For instance, did they ask the locals what they would think about these lanes? Did they tell them how it would affect parking, both street side and in the lots for the chucrches/businesses? Any studies done in this area?

I think that the reason that this is going to cost us MORE tax-payer money, is that the area is just against change overall. They don't want things to change what they have come to know as "normal". Maybe that is why it has become "underserved"? They don't wanything to change.

Also, was there enough effort made to "teach" or educate the area residents how to deal or use the new parking schemes? Maybe the confusion is part of their dislike of the new situation?

I"m just throwing out ideas....Maybe we can use these to help out in the future.

 

Respectfully,

 

Manny

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on January 8, 2013 at 2:07am

Manny,

From the Grid Chicago post, here's what CDOT Deputy Commissioner Scott Kubly had to say about the issues you bring up:

I called Kubly for his take on what happened with Independence. “We had talked to the alderman about the lanes a year ago and discussed them at several public meetings for the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020, including meetings at Garfield Park and Douglas Park,” he says. “But there were folks who hadn’t been tracking the project who had a number of concerns. I think we will definitely try to engage the local alderman more in the future. All parties could have done a better job of communicating.” He adds that the premature ticketing, likely done by a combination of police and Department of Revenue staff, was also due to crossed wires.

“This has been a good learning experience for us,” Kubly says. “In the future we’ll make sure there’s no ticketing until the lanes are completed. And we’re learning how to better communicate what the changes to the roadway are. We might have temporary signage and put flyers on windshields explaining how to use the floating parking lanes. When we installed the new [two-way protected] bikes lanes on Dearborn it was a reaction to what happened on Independence. We spraypainted ‘parking’ on those parking lanes to make it obvious where to park.”

Noting that the Lawndale residents seemed to view the new configuration as a hassle with no upside for them because they see little demand for bike lanes in the neighborhood, I asked Kubly how CDOT plans to avoid this scenario in the future. “We need to communicate that this is actually a benefit for all users,” he says. “People perceive protected lanes as bike projects but, pure and simple, they’re safety projects. We’re trying to find alternative uses for excess right-of way so we can slow cars and make it safer for everyone.”

Kubly says CDOT plans to make more of an effort to get the word out to community stakeholders about its bike lane proposals, pay more attention to special uses like church parking in the design process, and work harder to educate the public about the function and benefits of the new street layout. “You can turn this into a bad experience or a good experience. We’re choosing to do the latter.”

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on January 8, 2013 at 2:22am

Manny - I was a community outreach volunteer for the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020.  In most areas of the city, getting residents to come out, get information and offer their thoughts on the plan was a challenge.  There was publicity about the meetings, but most residents did not attend.  The plan was developed through input from those who did attend.

I've said from the beginning that education and outreach to coincide with the introduction of new lanes would be critical to their success.  I think it's unfortunate that CDOT, aldermen and neighborhood chambers of commerce haven't done more to get the word out and ensure the success of these changes.

In areas like the west side, we tend to have a "chicken or the egg" dilemma with most new bike lanes. The streets where many of us would like to have them currently don't get a lot of bike traffic, so non-cyclists in the neighborhoods may not perceive a need for the lanes.  Once they're established (as long as they're not constantly violated by cars), more cyclists are likely to come.  

We've had similar issues with some south side bike lanes (such as King Drive).  I'm currently pushing for one of the biggies yet to come - Vincennes. Many of us on the far south side could really benefit from having lanes re-established on Vincennes (as well as viaduct repair at 83rd St.).  We definitely have a "chicken or the egg" situation there.  Bike traffic is low, and there isn't going to be a significant amount without improvements to make it easier to ride between neighborhoods.  For those of us who were involved on the south side, getting those improvements so we could get around easier, as well as encouraging others to ride, was a big motivator.

I applaud those aldermen who have supported the plan.  I hope that we can get more buy-in from south and west side aldermen as the route network continues to expand.  If you live in a ward where you're not sure of your alderman's position on bike routes, speak up.  Contact the ward office and let them know that you want bike lanes.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 8, 2013 at 4:19am

This whole thing is particularly frustrating for those of us on the southwest side who still don't have any kind of bike lanes on most of Archer despite the fact that it does get used by a lot of riders and that there are no viable alternatives due to a tangle of the canal, the interstate, the airport, intermodal facilities and other rail lines.

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