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 Mark on February 6, 2013 at 11:20am

State Street has a better bridge and less traffic than Dearborn.  Wabash has even better bridge and less traffic and only 3 stoplights between Wacker and Chicago Avenue.  Wabash is my preferred route north from Wacker.  (Wabash/Superior/Rush/State to North Ave)  Then from State and North, I can choose between the LFT, the Zoo, or Clark St.

Permalink Reply by Will on February 6, 2013 at 11:57am

Except for the no bike lanes part, I like that route. The State Street bridge is nice.

Mark said:

State Street has a better bridge and less traffic than Dearborn.  Wabash has even better bridge and less traffic and only 3 stoplights between Wacker and Chicago Avenue.  Wabash is my preferred route north from Wacker.  (Wabash/Superior/Rush/State to North Ave)  Then from State and North, I can choose between the LFT, the Zoo, or Clark St.

Permalink Reply by Will on February 7, 2013 at 2:06am

I took the State St bridge last night, it was great. Getting to the bridge wasn't that fun, but once I got there, it was a good route.

Permalink Reply by Anika on February 7, 2013 at 4:07am
I've only ridden Dearborn 4 times since it opened. Not totally impressed - I guessed my expectations were a lot higher. Here's my issue though - why have them of there is no enforcement on them. This morning, an unmarked car parked in it taking the entire lane. Ironically it was the same unmarked car that parked two weeks ago there. The officers were on their way to get coffee by the looks of their meandering. There were other parking places available not in the lane. I had to ride into oncoming traffic to get around them. How is that protected and if they can't be respectful of the lanes how will anyone else be?

Ironically, 2 blocks later a delivery truck kept yelling for me to move so they could drive down the lane to make a delivery. Uh no. My 7+ foot bike was loaded with a few hundred pounds today. Where do you think I'm going to go?
Permalink Reply by Tricolor on February 7, 2013 at 6:46am

A concrete curb instead of plastic bollards would stop a lot of these casual intruders.  Let's hope it's a lesson learned for the next project.

Permalink Reply by blair on February 7, 2013 at 6:51am

Yes!  Those bollards are run over all of the time, and they took out a lot of them on Kinzie.  Makes it super easy for people to cut in and out of the bike lane.

Buffered lanes or real barriers, please.



Tricolor said:

A concrete curb instead of plastic bollards would stop a lot of these casual intruders.  Let's hope it's a lesson learned for the next project.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on February 7, 2013 at 8:28am

Gabe Klein said that a long-term goal is to upgrade Dearborn to concrete curbs instead of bollards.

Tricolor said:

A concrete curb instead of plastic bollards would stop a lot of these casual intruders.  Let's hope it's a lesson learned for the next project.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on February 7, 2013 at 11:35am

I know.  I think it's buried among all the pages this forum uses.  Any way we could get it to show 50 posts at a time rather that 10?  I know a revision is coming...

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 7, 2013 at 11:50am

Sounds like a very good upgrade to me.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Gabe Klein said that a long-term goal is to upgrade Dearborn to concrete curbs instead of bollards.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on February 12, 2013 at 4:02am

I ran into a pedestrian this morning... He was standing in the bike lane and I had a green light. I yelled out, but he was wearing headphones, so he didn't hear me. When I tried to go around him, he stepped right in front of me – without looking – at the last possible second, and I hit him. I clipped his side and slammed into a flexible bollard before coming to a full stop. He turned around to yell at me about having a walk sign, like that excuses him from not paying attention. The light must have turned yellow right as I entered the intersection.

The solution for this is longer yellow lights for cyclists, and a few second delay for street-crossers, so that  conflicts like this do not occur. It's typically not possible for someone on a bike to stop right as the light turns yellow if they are already just about to enter the intersection.

Permalink Reply by WillG on February 12, 2013 at 4:09am

I feel like there were a ton of peds in the lanes today. I almost hit a lady hailing a cab, and at a few of the intersections there were knuckleheads hanging out in the bike lane waiting for the walk signal. No collisions but it seemed worse today than any other time I've ridden it. Eventually I would assume that everyone will learn the safest way to behave at these intersections.

Also interesting to note, at at least 2 of the intersections today, the people waiting in the left turn lanes didn't get a chance to go because they a) were not paying attention and missed the green arrow or b) pedestrians see that Dearborn still has a green light and therefore keep crossing the street, preventing the left turners from going.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on February 12, 2013 at 4:15am

Just following up - this week I got the standard form letter stating that "the complaint has been recorded into the driver's permanent history." 

One thing to note is that while the reporting form asks for the driver's name, it isn't necessary. The driver was absent in this case but the complaint still worked. 



Cameron 7.5 mi said:

I've filed one as well, I expect to receive the standard from letter that the complaint has been placed in the driver's file. I doubt that the complaints actually do anything, but they're easy enough to file that I'll get it a shot.

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

Filed a consumer complaint this morning about a cab parked in the lanes last night. I'll try to remember to report back if anything comes of it.

Taking a picture sure made it easier - cab number, cab company, and the pic's timestamp made it easy to fill out the form.

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