Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on June 4, 2012 at 11:02am

They do make a difference. Those parking cagers are tamed.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 4, 2012 at 4:33pm

Maybe this way they can count the Kinzie lane twice as mileage towards the total protected bike lanes promised by the mayor.   If they just keep pulling out the bollards and putting them back in maybe they can get 25-50 miles "worth" of "new" protected bike lanes just in that little stretch...

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 5, 2012 at 1:20am

Right, just like the "more police on the streets" smokescreen.

James BlackHeron said:

Maybe this way they can count the Kinzie lane twice as mileage towards the total protected bike lanes promised by the mayor.   If they just keep pulling out the bollards and putting them back in maybe they can get 25-50 miles "worth" of "new" protected bike lanes just in that little stretch...

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 5, 2012 at 1:50am

I would think that they would be bumpy and hard on  your wheels.

Permalink Reply by Brendan Kevenides on June 5, 2012 at 3:12am

Good for CDOT for quickly revising its approach.  I was very surprised when the bollards were removed.  They seem necessary to me.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 5, 2012 at 7:39am

Now CDOT should retime the lights so that when you enter the intersection (from southbound Milwaukee to turn left onto Kinzie) on the last second of a green phase, you aren't there for the entire yellow phase, then there on the first seconds of the red phase, AND there in the cross direction's green phase. 

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on June 5, 2012 at 7:49am

"...this was done partly because of complaints from nearby residents about the appearance of the bollards."

 

And what was the other part?

 

Those folks living near the Blommer Chocolate Factory sure are assholes.  First they complain about the "awful" fresh chocolate smell permeating the air near their homes, now this.  The fact that CDOT caved in to such ridiculous complaints is beyond sad.      

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 5, 2012 at 7:50am

Kudos to CDOT. They appear to be willing to try things and learn what works and what doesn't and keep making changes until they get it right. Let's keep in mind that this PBL business is still brand new to Chicago.

Now if only they listen and fix the Halsted bridge.

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on June 5, 2012 at 7:54am

The next sentence in the article is:

In addition, Amsden said that CDOT was planning on moving away from using so many posts anyway, since it’s the parked cars that actually provide the protection, and using fewer posts lowers installation and maintenance costs.

Zoetrope said:

"...this was done partly because of complaints from nearby residents about the appearance of the bollards."

 

And what was the other part?

 

Those folks living near the Blommer Chocolate Factory sure are assholes.  First they complain about the "awful" fresh chocolate smell permeating the air near their homes, now this.  The fact that CDOT caved in to such ridiculous complaints is beyond sad.      

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on June 5, 2012 at 8:00am

Just like the floating lane on the Halstead bridge!  The cars provide the "protection".  

It's too bad that cars started parking in the bike lane -- they would've been able to save boat loads of money by not using so many posts.    

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on June 25, 2012 at 4:07am

It seems to me that, even after some of the posts were replaced, it's still too easy for cars to drive between the posts to pull up to the curb or park in the bike lane. Before any of the posts were removed, they were generally too close together for cars to easily drive through them to park, so it was mostly just USPS and UPS trucks who were intentionally driving the length of the bike lane to get to access deliveries. Grid Chicago is looking to this issue and should have another report in the near future.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 25, 2012 at 4:20am

On a related note, I was passing through Garfield Park on Jackson on Saturday afternoon and noticed dozens of cars parked in the protected bike lanes on both sides of the street - and NO bikes at all.  With the lanes obstructed, conditions are even worse than before the introduction of the lanes, because there's not much room for bikes to avoid passing traffic and doors while staying clear of the bollards.

I sent a photo to CDOT to give them a heads up.  They've responded, saying that they'd contact the appropriate police district and request enforcement.

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