I rode Dearborn today...anyone else?

I just missed the press conference and just hung out at lunch to see how it would all work. It seemed easy enough, so I took Dearborn as my starting route home to Roscoe Village. Normally I hit Franklin to Orleans then north to Lincoln.

I have to say, it was pretty easy and relatively safe. The ambassadors were helpful with the the auto traffic. The walkers were easy enough to avoid. I had to chuckle at two riders riding side by side in the lane.

What I didn't see was any oncoming traffic; southbound riders. I am guessing that will come in time or at other times during the day.

Way to go Mayor RE! This is really making a statement.

Who else rode the new path?

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on April 22, 2013 at 8:30am

Yes; it has stopped. :D


h' 1.0 said:

Has the snow situation gotten any better?

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on April 23, 2013 at 2:05am

I just meant that it has stopped snowing, lol.

 

FedEx truck parked in the Dearborn PBL outside the Goodman this morning. I tried to speak to the guy when he came outside but he blew me off.

 

I reported it to FedEx and gave them the license plate number. They asked if I'd like them to call me back to update me and I said sure.

Permalink Reply by blair on April 23, 2013 at 5:03am

I've started using a whistle sometimes when riding the Dearborn PBL.  Yelling out "bike lane!" or "hey!" doesn't seem to do anything when pedestrians are standing in it.

Permalink Reply by Jack Crowe on April 23, 2013 at 5:09am

"HEADS UP!" way in advance has worked great for me. And then sometimes I add a "bike lane" or "thanks" when passing.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on April 23, 2013 at 5:12am

blair_ said:

I've started using a whistle

Permalink Reply by blair on April 23, 2013 at 5:18am

Ha.

I know, Adam.  I think of this guy every time I use it... but it works!

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on April 23, 2013 at 5:20am

I've generally found calling out to be ineffective when overtaking pedestrians and other people on bikes.  I think it's because most pedestrians (and many bike riders) have ear buds jammed into their ears.  When people do hear you, there's a fairly high probability that they react by moving toward the path I'm taking (to their left), not away from it.  There also a lot of ambient noise in the Loop, so even without ear buds, the odds that they hear you is diminished significantly.  Adam's clip from Portlandia demonstrates the end result of the escalating arms race between bikies and iPod-toting pedestrians.

blair_ said:

I've started using a whistle sometimes when riding the Dearborn PBL.  Yelling out "bike lane!" or "hey!" doesn't seem to do anything when pedestrians are standing in it.

Permalink Reply by Jenn_5.5 mi on April 23, 2013 at 5:30am

I had a lovely encounter this AM with a gentleman so engrossed with his phone. He did happen to look up and see the no walk signage but proceeded to walk into the bike lane and stand, staring at his phone directly in front of me... I am not a small girl, I wear bright/obnoxious clothing typically while riding, I have a bright helmet, I run my lights in the AM - I am hard to miss if one simply looks.

I politely say to said gentlemen: Not a good place to stand

G: 'You' think you own the roads. 

Me: I am in my lane and obeying my lights.

I love the general public. Ugh! Almost hit a Ped in the exact same spot yesterday... Rolling fast down hill right after the bridge (SB). Thank Goodness for her I changed my brakes on Saturday!

Permalink Reply by Jason W on April 23, 2013 at 7:05am

I yell heads up. It's something you need to do to avoid collisions from ignorant peds, not only in the Deaborn PBL. I would like a nice loud electric horn, which would have to be detachable for theft reasons. Anyone have suggestions?

Permalink Reply by Michelle S on April 23, 2013 at 7:05am

I'm a little sick of stopping to advise drivers that they're parked in the Dearborn bike lane but have continued to do so because I think it will take hundreds of us doing this a few thousand times before it sinks into the collective conscience of Chicago drivers. Plus, I'm hoping for (and will be following up on the DOT promise of) better markings added this spring/summer, because that will help. Right now, if a driver is unfamiliar with Dearborn and only sees half a block of it, it's admittedly hard to tell that it's a protected bike lane.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on April 23, 2013 at 7:24am

It's another bad PBL design/implementation in Chicago. It not only fails to reduce bike/MV conflict at intersections, it actually makes the existing intersections worse AND creates new conflict points at alleys along its length. The lanes are too narrow, and their proximity to pedestrian traffic ensures that there will be increased bike/pedestrian conflict for as long as this PBL exists. Roadways are "crowned." Debris from the road funnels to the curb. Putting bikes against the curb virtually guarantees that bikes will be relegated to riding through puddles, ice, snow, broken glass, beer bottles, cans, burrito wrappers, medical waste, etc.

Here's an excerpt from a Copenhagenize blog entry from April 14th: (The emphasis was added by me).

Interestingly, in this article, you've basically seen three of the four types of bicycle infrastructure in Denmark that makes up the Best Practice. There are only four. That's what makes good design.

- Separated cycle tracks. The standard when speed limits for cars are above 30 km/h - unless car traffic volume is deemed low then above 40 km/h. Separated from the street with a curb.

- Bi-directional cycle tracks. Not used in cities because of safety issues. We threw these out of the Best Practice for cities a couple of decades ago. They serve a great function on routes with few intersections, like along the motorways or bike paths that run through parks, etc.

- Cycle tracks separated by a verge - completely away from the road, but running parallel. This is the standard when speed limits for cars are 60-70 km/h or higher.

The one you didn't see is what you get on residential streets with a 20-30 km/h speed limit. Then there is no bicycle infrastructure. Bicycles share the street with other vehicles at that speed. 

Michelle Stenzel said:

I'm a little sick of stopping to advise drivers that they're parked in the Dearborn bike lane but have continued to do so because I think it will take hundreds of us doing this a few thousand times before it sinks into the collective conscience of Chicago drivers. Plus, I'm hoping for (and will be following up on the DOT promise of) better markings added this spring/summer, because that will help. Right now, if a driver is unfamiliar with Dearborn and only sees half a block of it, it's admittedly hard to tell that it's a protected bike lane.

Permalink Reply by Mark on April 23, 2013 at 9:50am

+1 to Kevin.  I decided to give the Dearborn PBL another chance on Sunday and hit a light just turning red at every intersection all the way along.

Kevin C said:

It's another bad PBL design/implementation in Chicago. It not only fails to reduce bike/MV conflict at intersections, it actually makes the existing intersections worse AND creates new conflict points at alleys along its length. The lanes are too narrow, and their proximity to pedestrian traffic ensures that there will be increased bike/pedestrian conflict for as long as this PBL exists. Roadways are "crowned." Debris from the road funnels to the curb. Putting bikes against the curb virtually guarantees that bikes will be relegated to riding through puddles, ice, snow, broken glass, beer bottles, cans, burrito wrappers, medical waste, etc.

Here's an excerpt from a Copenhagenize blog entry from April 14th: (The emphasis was added by me).

Interestingly, in this article, you've basically seen three of the four types of bicycle infrastructure in Denmark that makes up the Best Practice. There are only four. That's what makes good design.

- Separated cycle tracks. The standard when speed limits for cars are above 30 km/h - unless car traffic volume is deemed low then above 40 km/h. Separated from the street with a curb.

- Bi-directional cycle tracks. Not used in cities because of safety issues. We threw these out of the Best Practice for cities a couple of decades ago. They serve a great function on routes with few intersections, like along the motorways or bike paths that run through parks, etc.

- Cycle tracks separated by a verge - completely away from the road, but running parallel. This is the standard when speed limits for cars are 60-70 km/h or higher.

The one you didn't see is what you get on residential streets with a 20-30 km/h speed limit. Then there is no bicycle infrastructure. Bicycles share the street with other vehicles at that speed. 

Michelle Stenzel said:

I'm a little sick of stopping to advise drivers that they're parked in the Dearborn bike lane but have continued to do so because I think it will take hundreds of us doing this a few thousand times before it sinks into the collective conscience of Chicago drivers. Plus, I'm hoping for (and will be following up on the DOT promise of) better markings added this spring/summer, because that will help. Right now, if a driver is unfamiliar with Dearborn and only sees half a block of it, it's admittedly hard to tell that it's a protected bike lane.

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