Archer construction

As many of you south siders may of noticed...Archer ave has be re-surfaced with new asphalt.  This was badly needed and I'm so happy that my commute is now much smoother.

However I have noticed that they have not put in the bike lane. Anyone know if they're doing this? Who can I call to make sure they add this to the street?

thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on December 12, 2012 at 11:45am

Good point Gabe!

I tweeted The Chicago Department of Transportation, @ChicagoDOT about it earlier this week and did not (yet) get a response.

There is a form at http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot.emailform.html which claims to send email to CDOT. I'm gonna try that right now that you've reminded me of the problem.

[EDIT] I sent this via the form:

Greetings,
Nice surface on part of Archer Ave. Thanks! When can we expect the bike lanes to return there? The nice new surface seems to be encouraging drivers to drive even faster than before making the bike lanes even more necessary. Thanks, Tony Adams

The site replied:

Thank you for your email. We will get back to you shortly.

I'll post back here if I get a response.

Someone who is less phone averse than I might want to call 311 and inquire about it?

Permalink Reply by Robot Gabe on December 12, 2012 at 11:55am

Good point on the faster drivers...I never realized how those large pot holes on archer slowed folks down.

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on December 12, 2012 at 1:28pm

We've asked about this recently too. CDOT says the bike lane will be going back in when the resurfacing is all wrapped up. Their bikeways planner was looking into the schedule for the striping.

-Lee Crandell, Active Trans

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 13, 2012 at 2:45am

Abundance of large pot holes = low tech traffic calming.  ;)

Robot Gabe said:

Good point on the faster drivers...I never realized how those large pot holes on archer slowed folks down.

Permalink Reply by We all have an inner Beast... on December 13, 2012 at 7:39pm

My question ( and please tell me if I am wrong ) is...why did they NOT paint the bike lane at the same time that they painted the lane lines ? Wouldn't it have made sense, since they would've dried at almost the same time ? And then they would be done with that, and not have to come back again to do something that they could've done in the first place.

On kind of the same issue....why was only the Bridgeport part of Archer avenue done ? (the mayor no longer lives there) When will they work on Archer further SW-bound?

The area that they fixed wasn't as bad as the area near Rockwell (in both directions) and Western (both directions...especially going NE-Bound ! The bus slams into that hole, right by the Walgreen's), Kedzie (NE Bound), etc...

 

As for the speeding cars...why doesn't CPD put a few vehicle units in the "parking area" under the over pass (before Halsted), and just laze or radar the oncoming traffic ? They would easily make "quota" on the first day that they tried that.

 

Just asking.

Permalink Reply by Robot Gabe on December 14, 2012 at 5:40am

Manny,

I thought the same thing about why they didn't do at the same time. Then I noticed that they went back to cut around the sewers and drains, then poured concrete to relevel them. 

I'm glad they did cause some of those, which were directly on the bike lane, dropped over 6" into the road.

Also agree that if they even put one CPD under the overpass all day...they'd make a fortune!


Manny Fuentes said:

My question ( and please tell me if I am wrong ) is...why did they NOT paint the bike lane at the same time that they painted the lane lines ? Wouldn't it have made sense, since they would've dried at almost the same time ? And then they would be done with that, and not have to come back again to do something that they could've done in the first place.

On kind of the same issue....why was only the Bridgeport part of Archer avenue done ? (the mayor no longer lives there) When will they work on Archer further SW-bound?

The area that they fixed wasn't as bad as the area near Rockwell (in both directions) and Western (both directions...especially going NE-Bound ! The bus slams into that hole, right by the Walgreen's), Kedzie (NE Bound), etc...

 

As for the speeding cars...why doesn't CPD put a few vehicle units in the "parking area" under the over pass (before Halsted), and just laze or radar the oncoming traffic ? They would easily make "quota" on the first day that they tried that.

 

Just asking.

Permalink Reply by We all have an inner Beast... on December 18, 2012 at 3:34pm

Sorry this is a week late.

Construction on south side of Archer, from approx. Kedzie to Sacramento. Soft gravel and such used as filler on the construction.

(Why is there a fire hydrant in the middle of the south side, NE-bound lane ?) Just wondering and updating.

 

Have Great Day !!!

 

 

Respectfully,

Manny

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on December 19, 2012 at 4:20am

Robert and Manny make a really great point. Despite all the great work on Dearborn, CDOT is still treating pedestrians and cyclists as second class road users. Weeks have gone by since the Archer  striping has been done for motor vehicles.

CDOTNews <CDOTNews@cityofchicago.org>
9:11 AM (5 minutes ago)
to tony
Thank you for your e-mail.

Bike lanes and a few remaining crosswalks will be restored.  CDOT is working with the contractor to get a designated date of restoration.

We appreciate your bringing the matter to our attention.

CDOT Communications
________________________________________
From: tony@[some more or less public email address]
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 4:47 PM
To: CDOTNews
Subject: Archer Avenue Bike Lane Striping?

Greetings,
Nice surface on part of Archer Ave. Thanks! When can we expect the bike lanes to return there? The nice new surface seems to be encouraging drivers to drive even faster than before making the bike lanes even more necessary. Thanks, Tony Adams
Permalink Reply by We all have an inner Beast... on December 20, 2012 at 7:36pm

Noticed that they have some of the bike lanes already painted/taped in (Kudos to CDOT or whomever got that done !!!...I think it was the today - 20 Dec 2012-  after we mentioned it on here - Thank You, Tony Adams !!!)

.....but what happened to the bike lane under the overpass ? The lane peters-out (has the dashes) just as you get under the overpass going SW-bound.

The NE side has it running all the way under the overpass.

Will there be a bike lane in the "Bridgeport" area of Archer? They have enough room on the north side, while it runs next to I-55/90/94 (not sure on the south side, but will remember to check tomorrow morning)

Also, maybe on the bridge over the river (or I&M Canal, not sure which....am too busy trying not to get creamed by cars trying to race to get to Ashland to turn right (my south-bound, they are trying to go north) or by cars either hurrying up to get to that ever-elusive, might-never-be-there-again Blockbuster parking lot (north-bound, across Ashland) or even that "half-of-a-turning lane" at the bottom of the hill (again, north-bound) that people use to get to 31st ST. (Sorry, I don't kow the name...trying to avoid the cars cutting me off because I am "slow" and they are "late/impatient/jerks") ?

I know that I may be asking for too much on this, but I am just asking to see if we can make Archer a bit safer for bicyclists. Maybe it will bring more bicyclists out this upcoming spring/summer. I would love to be able to ride safely out on Archer Ave. It would open up the SW suburbs more to bicyclists. Some of us would have to ride across town just to get to Metra to take it out there.

Besides, I would like to take a bike ride to the Little Red School House area (Maple/Bullfrog Lakes) for a picnic or some fishing with my son, without needing a car or to pay Metra/CTA. You know, a nice relaxing ride.

Just an idea....

 

Respectfully,

 

Manny

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