Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly introduced a measure Wednesday to try to force the city's transportation commissioner to pull a protected bike lane off Kinzie Street.

According to Reilly, community-approved development plans for buildings going up on Wolf Point included an agreement that the bike lane would be moved off Kinzie Street and onto nearby Grand Avenue because the heavy auto traffic trying to get into the buildings from Kinzie would be incompatible with the bike lane.

"(Commissioner of Transportation Rebekah Scheinfeld) is considering using her authority to ignore that directive," Reilly said.

Scheinfeld could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Agency spokesman Michael Claffey said he was looking into the issue.

According to Reilly, Scheinfeld is citing "an internal study" showing it would not be safe to move the bike lane to Grand Avenue. But Reilly said Scheinfeld's study "is not a professional study."

The 42nd Ward alderman’s order would require Scheinfeld to remove the Kinzie bike lane.

From the Chicago Tribune: http://tinyurl.com/on86pz6