The Chainlink

CBS's Dave Savini looks into hazards for cyclists on the news...

...and then Rob Johnson basically dismisses it with a seriously messed up last word. WTH?


http://chicago.cbslocal.com/video/3552325-chicagos-cyclists-in-dang...

Great research and story, though - kudos to Dave Savini and the producers for getting this information out there. 

20 tickets all year??!?!?! We have got to get some more enforcement happening!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on September 28, 2016 at 1:33pm

Never.

Permalink Reply by Steve G on October 4, 2016 at 10:07am

USPS vehicles are legally entitled to park illegally. 

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on September 28, 2016 at 10:58am

I agree with most of the other comments.  This is a good-faith effort to address the problems cyclists face.  I'm glad he brought up the poor condition of the streets and the city's complete failure to address maintenance issues.  I myself believe that just having the streets in reasonably good shape would prevent hundreds of injuries and collisions a year.  Drivers would benefit as well, and pedestrians.  

It's amazing that only 20 tickets were given out for bike lane violations.  The city could hire some civilians to give out bike lane tickets and make a handsome profit, especially if fines for commercial vehicles in bike lines were specifically increased.  Or maybe we could start putting in bike lane cameras.  Also, the city should start restricting, or restricting further, when deliveries can be made downtown and on streets by large trucks.  A big problem is that, basically, Chicago is owned and has always been owned by developers.  They almost always seem to get their way, regardless of the law.       

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on September 28, 2016 at 11:24am
" Chicago is owned, and has always been owned by the developers. They almost always seem to get their way, regardless of the law."

Yeah, and most of these 'developers' are not voting citizens of the City of Chicago. And why is their voice more influential than the citizens who vote? $ $ $
Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 28, 2016 at 11:26am

> I'm glad he brought up the ... city's complete failure to address maintenance issues.

I think this is pretty typical of most infrastructure. You can get state and federal grants or float bonds to finance the construction of streets and bike lanes (capital improvements), but I suspect not for ongoing maintenance. That's probably one reason there are so many potholes, and faded lane markings and signage. To use a (bad?) analogy, you might well finance the purchase of a car, but not the cost of oil changes at Jiffy Lube (well, not consciously - ignore the fact that those little pieces of plastic in your wallet are loans).

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on September 28, 2016 at 11:43am

The most egregious bit of information in that piece was about the sewer grate.  The city still won't replace that?  This issue was covered in a thread on this website 17 months ago.

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/let-s-put-some-pressure-on...

I have to believe any future lawsuits against the city will increase in judgments because the city knows about this issue and won't address it.

http://www.mybikeadvocate.com/2015/04/city-of-chicago-refuses-to-fi...

If anything will get drivers to care about safe cycling infrastructure, it is the possibility of this city paying multiple million dollar settlements.

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on September 28, 2016 at 11:48am
You mean it's still there? It never was replaced? ! 0h my!
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on September 28, 2016 at 12:32pm

Yes, still there 5 years later. A different grate design would be much more appropriate in a bike lane.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 28, 2016 at 11:57am

Perhaps the most obvious place to start trying to get this hazard replaced would be the judge in the case Brendan Kevenides wrote about in his blog.

I can see why the city doesn't want to fix the problem. In the pictures it looks like the entire grate structure (including the part which is actually part of the curb) is one piece. Fixing it properly would be more expensive than just replacing the horizontal portion. At the very least, it seems they could weld in some cross pieces to break up the long slots. (Can you weld cast iron?)

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin on September 28, 2016 at 12:27pm

You can't really weld cast iron per se, but there are processes that give similar enough results. It's a moot point though, since I'm pretty sure it's steel.

Do you think I would be arrested if I hauled my welder and grinder out and put in cross bars?

Permalink Reply by Steve G on October 4, 2016 at 10:30am

yes! (lol) But it's a great idea.

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on September 28, 2016 at 12:35pm

The city should just send over a police officer to put some zip-tie-handcuffs on the thing.

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