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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on October 1, 2012 at 3:38am

I think there are four stretches in that area to consider.  Only by making these areas more convenient than risking your next on Sheridan Road will make any northern plan work.

The first is between Ardmore and Devon.  There are bike paths on Winthrop and Kenmore but they're a bit crumbly and the speed humps aren't in good shape for a lot of bikes.  Sheridan road over the same stretch is too narrow combined with all the rush hour traffic but it's still used by the too cool for school types (or maybe they think they'll get robbed or something if they're inland).  Finally a lot of people ride on the sidewalk and earn the ire of the ancient spirits of evil that regularly complain (and in this case rightly so) at various social events.

Second is the Loyola campus.  You can get through it, but they don't make it easy.  With all the construction and the closure of a block of Kenmore this is probably the most serious issue along the path.  If Loyola put in a path directly through their campus that fed into Winthrop and Kenmore it would encourage more use of those streets, too, though it would be nice if the city re-paved them and put in some way for bikes to avoid the speed bumps.

Above Loyola there are more parks and streets east of Sheridan that would be able to handle a path extension if the will to pave a bit and sweep sand can be found.  Currently it's tool slow and crooked and it's still too easy to just stay on Sheridan and take your chances with traffic.  Putting in a good marked path should fix that and keep bikes closer to views of the lake that make the rest of the trail so nice.

Finally there is the stretch between Chicago and Evanston around the cemetery.  If the sidewalk there was tripled in width with a bike lane carved out of that it would be fine.

This is how I see it.  There's no money for an extension of Lake Shore Drive.  Marinas and other cash making opportunities are very unpopular so there's no way to justify the cost.  Even just enough fill for a bike path is going to be expensive, and if a bunch of wealthy North Shore owners can't force their needs on Rogers Park an even smaller group of (mainly) less wealthy bikers aren't going to succeed, either.  But it should be possible for the four areas I mention to be strung together to make a decent path and get people off Sheridan Road.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on October 1, 2012 at 5:00am

I like the slower pace and the quiet end of street beach that is Rogers Park. Let the high rises have their "exclusive" beaches. They only have lake front (mostly rocks) and use the public beaches anyway.

 

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 1, 2012 at 5:04am

Winthrop and Kenmore (from Ardmore to Devon) gets more than its share of double parking by apartment residents, their guests, delivery people, etc., which affects our ability to use the bike lanes.  The area around Thorndale can be a bit dicey at night.

Ancient spirits of evil?  How would you feel if you were just trying to get where you're going or get a little exercise and your health and life is regularly threatened by careless riding?  They had my sympathy back when I lived on that section of Sheridan, and they have it now.

A rideable route from Touhy to Howard/Juneway is indirect, but workable.

Better bike access through the Loyola campus and better paths through Loyola Park would improve the Devon to Touhy section enormously.  I think that many types of users (not just cyclists) would love a wider sidewalk opposite the cemetery at the border.

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