Halsted St from North Ave to Wellington Ave

I was informed today that my doctor is moving his practice from west Harrison to Illinois Masonic (Wellington and Dayton). Google Maps suggests a route using Sheffield instead of Halsted, even though Halsted has a bike lane.

Am I missing something? I know Halsted is a busy street through Lincoln Park, but Sheffield seems quite narrow.

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Permalink Reply by Tooscrapps on May 8, 2019 at 5:42am

Halsted has painted lanes. Sheffield doesn't but has less truck/bus traffic. It seems to shift from one route to the other depending on what side of North Ave you start your journey in Google maps.

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Permalink Reply by Mark on May 8, 2019 at 5:57am

Has that section of Halsted been repaved? It had gotten pretty bad between North and Fullerton, so I have been avoiding it.

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Permalink Reply by Tooscrapps on May 8, 2019 at 6:49am

For the most part, yes.

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Hutchinson on May 8, 2019 at 6:48am

Sheffield is not a good bike route. The travel lanes are narrow and the stretch through DePaul campus between Armitage and Fullerton is frequently congested. Cars pass dangerously close and there's no room to pass them when it gets backed up.

Halsted is a much better route, just be aware of frequent bike lane obstructions near Armitage by ride-share pick-up/drop-off.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 8, 2019 at 7:23am

For me the experience on Sheffield has varied by time of day and day of the week. I agree about lanes being narrow and the DePaul section from Armitage to Fullerton being congested at times.

Halsted is usually better. It's generally a good idea to watch carefully for potential dooring situations. I've been doored there in the past and avoided many potential doorings over the years.

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Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on May 8, 2019 at 8:59am

Thanks, everyone. Halsted seems to be the better route. Dooring is a possibility pretty much anywhere, so caution is a must regardless of the route. Looking at Streetview, it appears that most of the route is painted lines, which is much better than the sharrows on Halsted through Greektown.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Johnson on May 9, 2019 at 6:23am

Neither. It may a be a bit out of the way west but I suggest taking Clybourn to Racine then Racine north to Wellington. No bike lanes either on Racine, but much calmer and less traffic than Sheffield.