The Chainlink

Barrington (Hills) Anti Bike Campaign

Anyone heard about the campaign below or seen this sign?

Website is - http://www.dontchangebarringtonhills.com/

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Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on July 11, 2014 at 11:19pm

This whole thing is giving me bicycle face.

Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on July 12, 2014 at 6:30am

Who owns the road in the image below? This is Clybourn in Chicago and the answer is that it is public property. When the city wants to expand the road or add bike lanes, there is a process in place for it to purchase more land from the neighbors. They talk to the neighbors, give them a chance to comment and have input in the decision and, if needs be, they pay them for any land they take.

Who owns the road in the image below? This is Haegers Bend Road in Barrington Hills and the answer is that it is private property. The property that the bobcat is sitting on actually extends all the way to the middle of the road. Indeed, the neighbors actually pay property taxes on the road. The plan involves rebuilding this road to handle more and heavier traffic, including adding 8 feet of width (including a bike lane) and converting the road to a major north/south artery.

Barrington Hills has a master plan for their community that conflicts with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning plan. OK, stuff happens, but the CMAP plan for Haegers Bend Road is being implemented over the objections of local residents and without any compensation to the landowners for property to be taken. It's also being implemented not for the benefit of the local residents but for the benefit of people who want to drive (and bike) through their community. If something like that was tried in Chicago - say, installing bike lanes on Sheridan road without giving the neighbors any input and without compensating them for the land taken, there would be blood in the streets. I'd say that the folks in Barrington Hills are being fairly well behaved, considering.

Yeah, denizens of chainlink want more bike lanes The denizens of Barrington Hills do not - actually, they don't want more cars or trucks, either. Considering that the number of chainlinkers that regularly ride in Barrington Hills has to approach zero, we don't have much of a dog in this fight. Hating on them because they're happy with what they have (ain't money wonderful) isn't right and taking from them like the proposed plan does isn't fair.

Permalink Reply by mike w. on July 12, 2014 at 7:07am

"... Considering that the number of chainlinkers that regularly ride in Barrington Hills has to approach zero, we don't have much of a dog in this fight. "

Okay, i'll allow that that not a huge percentage of chainlinkers ride out that way, but there is a healthy number of us who do... hardly a number that "approaches zero."

 i will say that a many groups ride out that way, and some of the larger groups  do behave badly  (riding 3-4 wide, blowing stops, etc.) and that fuels the hostility. BH PD is pretty strict and i'm sure they write a goodly number of tickets. When i'm out that way (nearly every weekend in summer,) i do keep an eye out for the local constabulary. 

 Barrington Hills is not so much of a "community" as an oversized country club that has almost no commercial district and plays on the cachet of the "Barrington" marque. Yeah, they may have paid for their roads-most no more than alleys- but they are public ways. Unless they want to pull a Rosemont and fence themselves in with checkpoints and perhaps a passport requirement, it will be forever thus. 

i'm really very sorry if the property owners go uncompensated, but i doubt that will happen when all is said and done- a lot of lawyers will line up for well-heeled clients if the plans go through as stated above... 

Permalink Reply by Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles on July 12, 2014 at 7:42am

 I'm one of near zero chainlinkers that ride there and I'm probably going to get shit for this, but I'm siding with the folks in Barrington Hills on this one. I live in the Dundees, not too far from Barrington Hills and have ridden in the area for nearly forty years. Are some of the residents 'moneyed assholes'? Hell, yes. Many are not(moneyed, yes, but not assholes). It's their home, not ours.

The roads are narrow and the sight lines are short. It has gone from the occasional cyclist in the Seventies, to several large groups on the road at the same time. And they ain't all well behaved. Thirty riders blowing a four way stop. Groups blocking both lanes while climbing one of the several hills. I'd be pissed to find banana peels and GU wrappers at the end of my driveway. Throw in what CMAP is planning and I'd be going bat shit crazy.

As Reboot Oxnard said, we don't have much of a dog in this fight. Best to sit back with a bowl of pop corn and watch.

 

Permalink Reply by Richard Stiers on July 12, 2014 at 9:29am

I do agree. I have never ridden a group ride in BH and with the narrowness of the roads, riding 2 or more abreast (on Haegers Bend at least) is folly at your own expense. Many in group rides express arrogance in the riding 2 and more abreast on any road. I find that behavior as well as jettisoning banana peels and food wrappers anywhere other than a trash receptacle to be less than acceptable (sub 3 year old in the case of a bicyclist).

I still hate dodging and running over horseshit on the roadway, but at least the horses behave better than cyclist in groups.

To put it more precisely, bad behavior by cyclist anywhere really pisses me off!

Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles said:

 I'm one of near zero chainlinkers that ride there and I'm probably going to get shit for this, but I'm siding with the folks in Barrington Hills on this one. I live in the Dundees, not too far from Barrington Hills and have ridden in the area for nearly forty years. Are some of the residents 'moneyed assholes'? Hell, yes. Many are not(moneyed, yes, but not assholes). It's their home, not ours.

The roads are narrow and the sight lines are short. It has gone from the occasional cyclist in the Seventies, to several large groups on the road at the same time. And they ain't all well behaved. Thirty riders blowing a four way stop. Groups blocking both lanes while climbing one of the several hills. I'd be pissed to find banana peels and GU wrappers at the end of my driveway. Throw in what CMAP is planning and I'd be going bat shit crazy.

As Reboot Oxnard said, we don't have much of a dog in this fight. Best to sit back with a bowl of pop corn and watch.

 

Permalink Reply by Asper K on July 12, 2014 at 10:32am

Introducing lots of bikers into an area does change it's character.   I feel sorry for anyone who tries to go for a leisurely stroll on the lakefront path.  It obviously would be so much nicer for those walking and running and if there were no bikes.  Bike lanes are positive for bikers, negative in some cases to others.  

So the attitude from some, that bikers are a blessed thing that should be welcomed everywhere is a bit arrogant in my opinion.  Have a little respect for others who have a different view/lifestyle.  

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 12, 2014 at 10:56am

OK, in light of this new information, it sounds like Barrington residents might be willing to compromise-- skip the bike lane but still widen the road slightly to facilitate more automobile traffic?

Arnon K? Mike B?

Permalink Reply by Asper K on July 12, 2014 at 11:52am

In response to your hypothetical, I don't have an opinion of this project per se.  I've never been to barrington.   But I wouldn't be up in arms if a project, god forbid, didn't include bikes.  

You know, some people are against windmills because they change the look and feel of a community. What's wrong with that?  Or being against wider roads and bike lanes.  



h' 1.0 said:

OK, in light of this new information, it sounds like Barrington residents might be willing to compromise-- skip the bike lane but still widen the road slightly to facilitate more automobile traffic?

Arnon K? Mike B?

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 12, 2014 at 12:36pm

Well gosh, my bad then, I totally misinterpreted this graphic as being anti-bike!

So sorry!

Permalink Reply by Richard Stiers on July 12, 2014 at 1:22pm

You might want to do a search and find out how many have been killed on those bucolic roads of Barrington Hills. Persons who are jogging, riding horses and bicycles have been killed on the 'idealic streets' of Barrington Hills.

Haegers Bend Road is a favorite 'cut through' road for persons wanting to miss the traffic of SR59. Even though the speed limit on Haegers Bend Road is like 35mph. Favorite speed trap for Barrington Hills constabulary. 

Also don't confuse Barrington with Barrington Hills. Most folk in Barrington are not that enamored of their southerly namesake. 

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

The section of the website titled "The Biggest Land Grab in the History of Barrington Hills" makes it sound like they're opposed to anything that uses more land or changes the road from a quite country lane, so I doubt they'd be ok with the widened road to facilitate more automobile traffic. They want to be a small island of rural living with an easy commute to the city and are fighting to keep the outsiders who threaten that image out.



h' 1.0 said:

OK, in light of this new information, it sounds like Barrington residents might be willing to compromise-- skip the bike lane but still widen the road slightly to facilitate more automobile traffic?

Arnon K? Mike B?

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on July 12, 2014 at 4:25pm

Last Thursday, July 10th, there was a meeting where extending the Forest Preserve bike trail south through Edgebrook and Forest Glen was opposed by the LOCAL residents using the same arguments.  "Don't go through MY community and change it."

The concern was about removing trees to extend the Forest Preserve off-road trail.  Nobody seemed to be aware of how many trees were removed to build the homes they lived in.

The proposal, and what the neighbors wanted:

http://edgebrookcommunity.org/?page_id=9271

They wanted to keep the bikes out of the woods and on the streets, so they kept referring to the streets for cars and "paths."

Keep the bucolic character of Edgebrook from from change?

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 12, 2014 at 5:55pm

I'm not finding much about dead horseback riders/joggers/cyclists besides a story about someone dieing after being thrown from a horse.

But that's not to say Barrington Hills isn't a deadly place.

Couple found dead in their home:

http://palatine.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/regional-crime-r...

19 year old BH resident on drugs kills other motorist:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/barrington-hills

5 killed in Balloon crash:

http://www3.gendisasters.com/illinois/7008/barrington-hills-il-air-...

Man found dead in forest preserve:

http://barringtonhillsobserver.com/2013/12/26/man-found-dead-in-bar...

2 killed in car crash:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/barrington-hills/featured/2

I guess "bucolic" doesn't mean what I thought it did.

Richard Stiers said:

You might want to do a search and find out how many have been killed on those bucolic roads of Barrington Hills. Persons who are jogging, riding horses and bicycles have been killed on the 'idealic streets' of Barrington Hills.

Haegers Bend Road is a favorite 'cut through' road for persons wanting to miss the traffic of SR59. Even though the speed limit on Haegers Bend Road is like 35mph. Favorite speed trap for Barrington Hills constabulary. 

Also don't confuse Barrington with Barrington Hills. Most folk in Barrington are not that enamored of their southerly namesake. 

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

The section of the website titled "The Biggest Land Grab in the History of Barrington Hills" makes it sound like they're opposed to anything that uses more land or changes the road from a quite country lane, so I doubt they'd be ok with the widened road to facilitate more automobile traffic. They want to be a small island of rural living with an easy commute to the city and are fighting to keep the outsiders who threaten that image out.



h' 1.0 said:

OK, in light of this new information, it sounds like Barrington residents might be willing to compromise-- skip the bike lane but still widen the road slightly to facilitate more automobile traffic?

Arnon K? Mike B?

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