Example of Suburban Downtown Streets with Bike Lanes

Anyone know of examples of a suburban downtown commerical street that has a bikelane.  I'm trying to advocate for a bike lane on Oakton st in Downtown Skokie.  The village is deciding on a new road design to narrow the road from 4 lanes to 2 lanes to increase sidewalks, but the plan currently doesn't have any design for bike lanes.  Oakton is a critical road that can connect key destinations in Skokie by bike.  There seems to be enough room: 50 ft, but I think some examples of other suburbs will really help in making the Village board consider the bike lanes.

Thanks,

Yochai

Views: 348

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tyler G on July 2, 2010 at 4:00am
Although it is not quite the same thing, Waukegan Rd & Techny between Northbrook and Northfield has a trail/bike path/sidewalk that follows it for several miles that connect the two villages. It may be a starting point for an argument for bike lanes.
Permalink Reply by heather s on July 2, 2010 at 4:00am
Oak Park's new bike plan includes on-street bike lanes. It's a 10-year plan though, I don't know when the lanes will actually be striped. Try getting in touch with the League of Ilinois Bicyclists for more examples. They work with lots of towns and suburbs to develop bike plans.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 2, 2010 at 4:13am
Several years ago, the City of Evanston approved a bike plan, which has evolved into a Multi-modal transportation plan. They are phasing in bike lanes on major streets across the city in conjunction with road and sewer reconstruction projects.

Wilmette is also adding bike lanes on a few major streets. Sheridan Road got them last year. You can see their here by clicking on Bike Map under Documents on the right side of the page.

Oak Park is planning to add some bike lanes soon.

Oak Lawn is also phasing in a bike plan.

There are plenty of good examples nearby. I hope this helps.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on July 2, 2010 at 4:24am
Lake Avenue (Street?) in Evanston has a bike lane west of Chicago Avenue.

Asbury also has a bike lane north of Oakton. I don't remember how far it goes, but it might just go from Oakton to Main.
Permalink Reply by Yochai Eisenberg on July 2, 2010 at 4:47am
Great, this is very helpful! Sounds like many places are in similar stages.

Anne Alt said:
Several years ago, the City of Evanston approved a bike plan, which has evolved into a Multi-modal transportation plan. They are phasing in bike lanes on major streets across the city in conjunction with road and sewer reconstruction projects.

Wilmette is also adding bike lanes on a few major streets. Sheridan Road got them last year. You can see their here by clicking on Bike Map under Documents on the right side of the page.

Oak Park is planning to add some bike lanes soon.

Oak Lawn is also phasing in a bike plan.

There are plenty of good examples nearby. I hope this helps.
Permalink Reply by mike w. on July 2, 2010 at 5:30am
Sometimes i wish i still lived in Skokie so i could sit in on and speak at the hearings. i still sometimes drive Oakton on my way home from work and i can tell you that narrowing of Oakton through the shopping district will create a traffic nightmare not unlike Devon between Western and McCormick.

The street is too congested as it is and the 30mph speed limit is rarely observed as folks try to dodge around the semis and CTA busses that ply that street. Oakton is just okay to cycle on in the off hours, but Skokie is laid out in a Chicago-style grid and parallel streets are available. Making Oakton more bike-freindly is a pious thought, but not every street can be both bike and auto/truck friendly.

Any lane reduction along Oakton is a bad idea. Skokie had been trying with little success to revitalise businesses along that stretch of Oakton for almost 20 years. Narrowing the street and trying to recreate a small-town style atmosphere is a non-starter, IMHO. Folks will still drive to Old Orchard or the Mall Land strip along Touhy rather than walk -or cycle- beautiful Oakton Street.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on July 2, 2010 at 5:46am
Yochai, good idea. I'm sure there are many other cyclists on this site who would love a bike lane over there. Have you talked to Active Trans yet? They are a great resource for stuff like that.

Say hi to your family for me.
Permalink Reply by heather s on July 2, 2010 at 10:57am
Weirdly enough, increasing the number of lanes creates more traffic, and lane reduction produces less traffic. People choose not to drive where there isn't room for them.

mike w. said:
Sometimes i wish i still lived in Skokie so i could sit in on and speak at the hearings. i still sometimes drive Oakton on my way home from work and i can tell you that narrowing of Oakton through the shopping district will create a traffic nightmare not unlike Devon between Western and McCormick.

The street is too congested as it is and the 30mph speed limit is rarely observed as folks try to dodge around the semis and CTA busses that ply that street. Oakton is just okay to cycle on in the off hours, but Skokie is laid out in a Chicago-style grid and parallel streets are available. Making Oakton more bike-freindly is a pious thought, but not every street can be both bike and auto/truck friendly.

Any lane reduction along Oakton is a bad idea. Skokie had been trying with little success to revitalise businesses along that stretch of Oakton for almost 20 years. Narrowing the street and trying to recreate a small-town style atmosphere is a non-starter, IMHO. Folks will still drive to Old Orchard or the Mall Land strip along Touhy rather than walk -or cycle- beautiful Oakton Street.
Permalink Reply by Bernard Joseph Hannigan on July 3, 2010 at 3:42am
It is not in a downtown area, but it has the parameters you are looking for.
North Riverside, 26th Street between Desplaines Ave, and Ist Ave. Short run, but it has it all.
I bet if you checked with NR, they would get you a blueprint.
Permalink Reply by mike w. on July 3, 2010 at 7:49am
Granted. No argument from me on that.
i certainly don't advocate widening Oakton, but as it is now it is already a bottleneck through that part of Skokie. Also, depending on where they chose to narrow it down, there is a potential for hanging traffic up in the Skokie Swift level crossing at Skokie blvd & Oakton.
Based on my experience, no matter what happens, i fear the Skokie city council will make dog's lunch out of the project...

heather stratton said:
Weirdly enough, increasing the number of lanes creates more traffic, and lane reduction produces less traffic. People choose not to drive where there isn't room for them.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on October 17, 2011 at 8:17am

Just stumbled upon your article in the Skokie Review.

Why Oakton Street needs to go on a diet

By Yochai Eisenberg Contributor July 25, 2011 5:08PM

Updated: July 28, 2011 3:56AM



Yochai Eisenberg of Skokie is an urban planner and a resident of Oakton Street.

In the last few months, the Village of Skokie has tested out a road diet for the Oakton Street Corridor from Lacrosse Avenue to the east to Long Avenue to the west. The “road diet” refers to narrowing Oakton from four lanes of traffic to two lanes and a turn lane in the center.

There have been many complaints about this road diet related to traffic that in fact resemble the complaints of other diets — South Beach, Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc. During such diets, there is a longing for the way it was and the things you used to be able to eat. Similarly, as you sat there in traffic, you craved the experience of being able to zip through downtown Skokie and not have to sit at any lights.

What is clear in both dieting scenarios is that to succeed, you have to see the cravings as temporary and short-sighted. Giving in to them has consequences. On the one hand, it’s not meeting your weight loss goals and on the other, it’s missing an opportunity that will have long-lasting impact on Skokie’s downtown area.

Since the biggest complaint about the road diet is traffic, let’s examine this first. The traffic on Oakton needs to be seen as temporary. Transportation engineers anticipated that such traffic would arise, but it was also anticipated that drivers would change their routes in order to avoid traffic if necessary. While the six-week test may or may not have been long enough to see these effects, with more time these diversions will be apparent.

Howard, Touhy and Dempster are much better designed for through-traffic. Focusing on the traffic, we are only looking at roughly a two-to-three-hour window of the day at rush hours. Is it fair for such a significant, historic infrastructure decision to be made based on complaints from temporary traffic from two hours in a day?

What is clear to me but what might not be clear to the opposition who zip through Oakton at 40 mph, is that downtown Skokie is a place. Oakton Street was built for human beings and not for cars. It was designed and built before the strip malls of Dempster and before the parking high-rises of Old Orchard.

While Dempster Street and Old Orchard serve their purposes well, so should it be for Oakton Street. We need to make the Oakton Street Corridor a place for people just as much as it is a place for cars. This means creating a safe, inviting atmosphere that people feel comfortable walking down.

For those who actually walked on Oakton during the road diet test, there was a distinguishable difference in the experience. The parked cars between the sidewalk and moving lanes created a buffer, where you didn’t feel nervous about walking with a child. Cars would actually stop if you were in a crosswalk. The two lanes of traffic were easier to cross and didn’t make it feel that you were trying to cross a highway.

There is a significant population of older adults living in downtown Skokie. The road diet provides an opportunity to create more accessible paths, curb cuts and crossings and create a safer atmosphere so that older residents can safely walk around and be active in the downtown area. This is a unique opportunity that other towns don’t have to make an aging-friendly community.

Similarly to a person who commits to going to weekly Weight Watchers meetings, The Village of Skokie has taken bold steps to make a vibrant downtown by offering business incentives to attract new local businesses, building large multi-family buildings to increase the number of people downtown, developing a CTA train stop, and other various streetscape improvements. It has paid off as the downtown has seen a boom in new businesses, restaurants, bakeries and more.

However, what is missing is a safe, pedestrian infrastructure that people feel comfortable walking on, which connects all of these wonderful destinations and which provides more space for human interaction. This walkable, “complete” street, which means a street designed for all users of any ability, is the final missing ingredient to help ensure a vibrant downtown that lasts for generations to come.

Let’s not be short-sighted. Let’s look past our short-term cravings. Please don’t let the squeaky wheels of Skokie ruin this historic opportunity to help Skokie reach its full potential. Please support the Oakton Street Road Diet by e-mailing, mailing or going in-person to the Department of Community Development.

 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 17, 2011 at 10:14am
Excellent article!  There is a nice selection of businesses on and near Oakton in downtown Skokie.  Reducing traffic speed on Oakton could create a much more vibrant pedestrian and bike environment, which could result in more frequent visits to shops by nearby residents, and more money spent at those shops.  It could mean better quality of life for residents and the business owners who help to make it a destination.

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service