Avoid Wells/Hubbard If You Can

The area around Wells/Hubbard is a mess. The intersection is closed off due to Wells Street bridge reconstruction. There are no signs or accommodations for cyclists. There is no way to directly access Kinzie (or continue to Dearborn) if coming from the North.

Monday, I was able to take Hubbard, but today because of the snow, I was not. There are signs blocking car access at Wells/Illinois, but I was able to squeeze my bike though to access Hubbard. Unfortunately, due to yesterday's snow, that block was not plowed, forcing me to take Illinois. Illinois, does have a bike lane, but it was full of buses and cars anyway. I took Clark to Kinzie, which was not much better than Illinois.

Does anyone have a good way to get around this clusterfsck until construction is complete?

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Permalink Reply by Sue Clark on March 11, 2013 at 3:20am
Staying more to the west when going northbound, I usually like Franklin, over the bridge, and then again up Franklin. North of Chicago I get back on Orleans, and then take Division to Clybourn.

A friend showed me another route that goes along the river off Kingsbury, and again ends up around Division/Halsted, but I haven't tried that since it's been snowy/icy.
Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on March 11, 2013 at 3:41am

I also take a similar route. I work at Adams/Wells, so I head one block east to Franklin. Once across the river, I turn east on Hubbard, then back north on Franklin. Once Franklin ends just south of Oak, I zig-zag back to Wells.

That river route along Kingbury is nice. It's a great way to access Halsted while avoiding the hairy area around Goose Island (road is in terrible shape, lots of "hills").

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

Northbound I typically take Franklin to the Franklin/Orleans bridge, then take Hubbard back to to Franklin. From there I take Franklin to Superior to Wells. South of the river Franklin has a bike lane and north of the river it's a slow low traffic two way. The Franklin/Orleans bridge has a concrete infill.

Joe Guzzardo said:

Thanks to Cameron and Adam for some great tips on getting into the loop from the north side. On my way home I've been taking Dearborn north to Oak and heading over to the LFP from there. I find Dearborn gets a little hairy once you're north of Kinzie, even with the designated bike lane. Dooring is a real hazard there. I've been wondering if maybe Rush would be any better?

Permalink Reply by Joe Guzzardo on March 21, 2013 at 7:36pm

Hmmm, I may want to give that a try. I had to do it a few times to get used to it, but taking Franklin up to and past the river northbound is pretty good overall. At rush hour, the traffic is congested along Franklin under the L tracks, but it's slow and orderly, giving me a perfect opportunity to feel macho and "take the lane". I can easily keep pace and/or outpace the vehicular traffic along that stretch, not even one horn toot at me (so far).

Mark said:

Wabash/Superior/Rush/Oak/LFT or continue on Rush/State/North/LFT.  Either way, it sure beats Dearborn.


Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on March 22, 2013 at 3:32am

Aside from the occasional cabbie or clueless idiot parked in the bike lane, I rarely have problems on Franklin. Plus, it's much faster than heading over to Dearborn, as my office is on Wells.

Joe Guzzardo said:

Hmmm, I may want to give that a try. I had to do it a few times to get used to it, but taking Franklin up to and past the river northbound is pretty good overall. At rush hour, the traffic is congested along Franklin under the L tracks, but it's slow and orderly, giving me a perfect opportunity to feel macho and "take the lane". I can easily keep pace and/or outpace the vehicular traffic along that stretch, not even one horn toot at me (so far).

Mark said:

Wabash/Superior/Rush/Oak/LFT or continue on Rush/State/North/LFT.  Either way, it sure beats Dearborn.


Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on March 22, 2013 at 7:02am

I'm not a fan of the heavy right-turn traffic across the Franklin bike lane to turn right onto Washington or Monroe. There are some places where the bike lane IS the right-turn lane. 

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Aside from the occasional cabbie or clueless idiot parked in the bike lane, I rarely have problems on Franklin. Plus, it's much faster than heading over to Dearborn, as my office is on Wells.

Permalink Reply by Joe Guzzardo on March 24, 2013 at 6:04am

Yeah, that is an occasional problem. But the Franklin northbound bike lane is very wide and I feel safer there than Dearborn, much less likelihood of people walking into your path. Worst case, I'll just wait behind the vehicle(s) and advance at the next safe opportunity. The architecture around there is interesting to look at while inhaling vehicular exhaust.

Steven Vance said:

I'm not a fan of the heavy right-turn traffic across the Franklin bike lane to turn right onto Washington or Monroe. There are some places where the bike lane IS the right-turn lane. 

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Aside from the occasional cabbie or clueless idiot parked in the bike lane, I rarely have problems on Franklin. Plus, it's much faster than heading over to Dearborn, as my office is on Wells.

Permalink Reply by Joe Guzzardo on March 28, 2013 at 3:38am

I think maybe it depends upon the time of day as well. I was riding northbound along Franklin at around 5:15 PM yesterday and it was terrible. Usually, I ride that route about an hour later and it's fine then.

Steven Vance said:

I'm not a fan of the heavy right-turn traffic across the Franklin bike lane to turn right onto Washington or Monroe. There are some places where the bike lane IS the right-turn lane. 

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Aside from the occasional cabbie or clueless idiot parked in the bike lane, I rarely have problems on Franklin. Plus, it's much faster than heading over to Dearborn, as my office is on Wells.

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