Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on August 12, 2013 at 3:46pm

What is so bizarre about it ? I don't like it but the the walk/don't walk sign is clear to see.

Kevin K said:

The crossing north of North Avenue (I think the road is technically LaSalle) is a bizarre one.  Not to mention one of the harshest crossings on the path -- gives your bike quite a shake. Sucks with an aluminum frame.

A friend of mine from work recently had an accident there.  He was trying to beat the light, and so was an on-coming car.  My friend jammed on his brakes, flipped over the bike, and literally broke both of his forearms. Luckily he had a helmet on (he normally rides without one), the helmet was broken by the ground.

The car jammed on brakes, stopped just a few feet in front of him.  Lucky again.  My friend admits he was riding too aggressively, was late getting somewhere, but still -- confusing intersection.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Regarding the crossing at North Avenue: I've been scolded a few times after riding thought that one. It's not entirely clear what cyclists should do at that intersection. There is a walk sign that is off to the left and hard to see; I am not normally looking for walk signs, since on a bike I obey red/green only. Plus, often the sign will be on do not walk, even when cars have a red light. My suggestion is to install a bike traffic light there and give the LFT users priority.

Michael A said:

There are some intersections that have traffic signals. One on the trail to the west of the North av beach house, One at Queen's landing, and near navy pier. I very often see riders blow these signals so this is what they could be referring to. Also I am not convinced that bikes have the right of way where the path crosses roads, especially ones where there is only a stripped lane marking and no stop signs for the cars.

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Permalink Reply by Josh L. on August 12, 2013 at 3:48pm

+1

Tricolor said:

I think the walk/don't walk sign at North isn't hard to see or understand.  The main trouble with this intersection is the fact it's not busy enough for the 'don't walk' light to be taken seriously by most path users of any type.  Plus the light for exiting the park comes on a while after the don't walk signal comes on and trail traffic that crosses against the walk signal can get caught blocking traffic trying to get out.

I don't really know how to handle this intersection.  Trail traffic's so heavy and the signal is ignored so easily by repeat users that you'd have to have gates or a couple of police officers to control it.  For the crossings around Navy Pier there's no excuse for running those lights unless there's obviously no traffic.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Regarding the crossing at North Avenue: I've been scolded a few times after riding thought that one. It's not entirely clear what cyclists should do at that intersection. There is a walk sign that is off to the left and hard to see; I am not normally looking for walk signs, since on a bike I obey red/green only. Plus, often the sign will be on do not walk, even when cars have a red light. My suggestion is to install a bike traffic light there and give the LFT users priority.

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Permalink Reply by David P. on August 13, 2013 at 2:31am

Are you talking about the light on the bypass by the beach house, where you can access NB LSD or enter the parking lot and turnaround?

If so, I don't think it's very confusing once you go through it a few times and pay attention to the light cycles. IIRC, traffic exiting NB LSD has one cycle, traffic coming from the west has another cycle (left onto LSD or straight into the lot) and traffic exiting the lot has one cycle. If traffic is not turning left off of the off-ramp then there may be conflicting traffic with the right of way if you try to go through the ped signal.

Kevin K said:

The crossing north of North Avenue (I think the road is technically LaSalle) is a bizarre one.  Not to mention one of the harshest crossings on the path -- gives your bike quite a shake. Sucks with an aluminum frame.

A friend of mine from work recently had an accident there.  He was trying to beat the light, and so was an on-coming car.  My friend jammed on his brakes, flipped over the bike, and literally broke both of his forearms. Luckily he had a helmet on (he normally rides without one), the helmet was broken by the ground.

The car jammed on brakes, stopped just a few feet in front of him.  Lucky again.  My friend admits he was riding too aggressively, was late getting somewhere, but still -- confusing intersection.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Regarding the crossing at North Avenue: I've been scolded a few times after riding thought that one. It's not entirely clear what cyclists should do at that intersection. There is a walk sign that is off to the left and hard to see; I am not normally looking for walk signs, since on a bike I obey red/green only. Plus, often the sign will be on do not walk, even when cars have a red light. My suggestion is to install a bike traffic light there and give the LFT users priority.

Michael A said:

There are some intersections that have traffic signals. One on the trail to the west of the North av beach house, One at Queen's landing, and near navy pier. I very often see riders blow these signals so this is what they could be referring to. Also I am not convinced that bikes have the right of way where the path crosses roads, especially ones where there is only a stripped lane marking and no stop signs for the cars.

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