The Chainlink

Kinzie. It's what's next.

Hopefully you've heard by now that CDOT will begin construction this week on the city's first protected bike lane: Kinzie Street from Milwaukee Avenue/Desplaines Street to Wells Street. 

 

Full story on Steven Can Plan. 

 

I want to know what you think about this.

  • What do you feel will need special attention?
  • Is this the right or wrong location for such a facility? Why?
  • Are you going to thank/congratulate Rahm, Gabe, and the CDOT Bicycle Program?
  • Will you use it?

 

Cycle track and protected bike lane naysayers, this isn't the post for you. But if you've ridden in protected bike lanes before, then I welcome your constructive comments and criticism based on your actual experiences. 

Big intersection

The new beginning. Looking southeast at the intersection of Kinzie/Milwaukee/Desplaines. 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 14, 2011 at 11:17am

These types of moves really irritate and baffle me as to who exactly thought this type of thing is a good idea.

 

There are all types of engineers out there.  Rocket science, structural, electrical...  But road engineers are pretty much the bottom of the barrel.  Roads hardly ever fall down (except for bridges but a different class of engineer actually designs those when the Roadway engineer just specs how many lanes they want.)

 

Then there are the guys who design and make the traffic signs.  Those people are often barely literate.  I wonder if it is done by some sort of special halfway house work program...

Steven Vance said:

CDOT created a "belly bulge" (I call them road binges) at the new Halsted Street bridge over the North Branch Canal, that's under construction.

Halsted north and south of the bridge is and will remain 1 main lane in each direction, and 1 bike lane in each direction. ON THE BRIDGE, though, there will be 2 main lanes in each direction, and 1 bike lane each direction. Thanks for that, right?

Permalink Reply by Joel on June 14, 2011 at 11:21am
I'm sure the engineers had no say in the specifications.  They design whatever the politicians demand.  Sure, they can suggest something, but in the end it is the politicians who get their way.

James Baum said:

These types of moves really irritate and baffle me as to who exactly thought this type of thing is a good idea.

 

There are all types of engineers out there.  Rocket science, structural, electrical...  But road engineers are pretty much the bottom of the barrel.  Roads hardly ever fall down (except for bridges but a different class of engineer actually designs those when the Roadway engineer just specs how many lanes they want.)

 

Then there are the guys who design and make the traffic signs.  Those people are often barely literate.  I wonder if it is done by some sort of special halfway house work program...

Steven Vance said:

CDOT created a "belly bulge" (I call them road binges) at the new Halsted Street bridge over the North Branch Canal, that's under construction.

Halsted north and south of the bridge is and will remain 1 main lane in each direction, and 1 bike lane in each direction. ON THE BRIDGE, though, there will be 2 main lanes in each direction, and 1 bike lane each direction. Thanks for that, right?

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 14, 2011 at 11:29am
And thus we get to the crux of the problem.  The politicians are designing these these things when they have no clue what they are doing.  To make matters even worse is that this is done through a committee and a product of a million compromises and horse-trading.  The end product looks like something that came out of a sausage factory.
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 14, 2011 at 11:34am

Time for a road diet to slim down the whole passage to 2-lanes.  It'll make it safer for us bikers and ultimately make traffic flow better in the long run.

 

Win/Win for everyone. 

 

But I doubt that getting it done will be easy or that what happens in the end will be such a simple solution. 

 


Cameron Puetz said:

The worst is the one two punch on most east/west routes on the northwest side of the belly bulge built under the Kennedy followed almost immediately by the pinch point created by the Union Pacific viaduct.
Permalink Reply by David on June 14, 2011 at 11:54am

And they've created a real mess on Chicago Ave. during construction.  Going over the Chicago Ave. bridge was always nerve-wracking, now with two eastbound car lanes leaving no room for bikes, it really makes me nervous every time I cross.   The only alternative is Elston to Division, and the Division bridge is even scarier. 

 

I like your idea of opening the sidewalks to bike traffic, that would have been a low-cost way to solve the problem, and there's very little pedestrian traffic there that would have been affected.

 

It all just seems so typical of CDOT.  There's a push at the top for bike infrastructure, and there's some money coming in for big projects like the bridge, but the people in charge of the day to day implementation of this stuff just seem completely clueless about bike traffic.  I suppose that's natural, since middle management there probably consists of a lot of people who came up in the 80s when nobody thought about bike commuting, but geez, can't they go to school or something and learn modern traffic techniques?

 


Steven Vance said:

CDOT created a "belly bulge" (I call them road binges) at the new Halsted Street bridge over the North Branch Canal, that's under construction.

Permalink Reply by igz on June 14, 2011 at 12:04pm
most bridges automatically = sidewalk riding for me.  its just a reality at this point, useless to beat that dead horse.  ill reconsider once i actually do see more pedestrian foot traffic on them.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 14, 2011 at 12:05pm

I think you overestimate the ability of traffic engineer to influence the project design.

I recently talked to a traffic engineer who was involved in the Lawrence Ave streetscape redesign. I asked her why cycle tracks were not included in the design. She was pretty blunt in stating that they were ordered from higher up (CDOT leadership or even higher) not to consider cycle tracks in the design, regardless of whether they would fit.

This was a clearly a political decision, not a design decision.

 

Which makes me wonder whether, given the new leadership in this city, the Halsted street bridge design could still be influenced, as far as lane striping goes.



James Baum said:

These types of moves really irritate and baffle me as to who exactly thought this type of thing is a good idea.

 

There are all types of engineers out there.  Rocket science, structural, electrical...  But road engineers are pretty much the bottom of the barrel.  Roads hardly ever fall down (except for bridges but a different class of engineer actually designs those when the Roadway engineer just specs how many lanes they want.)

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 14, 2011 at 12:09pm

Good point.

There could be a buffered or protected bike lane given all of that width on the Halsted Street bridge (over North Branch Canal). 

Duppie said:

Which makes me wonder whether, given the new leadership in this city, the Halsted street bridge design could still be influenced, as far as lane striping goes.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 14, 2011 at 12:14pm
I take the sidewalk on some bridges and underpasses if I feel the road is unsafe.  My life, my choice.
Permalink Reply by ad on June 14, 2011 at 12:43pm
Well, at least the one benefit of the new cycle track on Kinzie is that they have now definitely turned cyclists from arguably permitted users to intended users of that street under the supreme court's Boub decision.  Might hopefully result in the Kinzie Bridge being worked on in the near future to increase safety and prevent accidents--similar to what happened with Cortland and Wells.     

James Baum said:
I take the sidewalk on some bridges and underpasses if I feel the road is unsafe.  My life, my choice.
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 14, 2011 at 12:58pm
Courtland under the Kennedy still isn't great.   That spot could get a road diet to one lane too -with a protected bike lane marked out with day-glo paint and special lights above to make it iridescent and unmistakable to the auto drivers.
Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on June 14, 2011 at 2:30pm

... don't forget the third punch where those arteries are crossing the Chicago River. Why anyone ever thought that streets like Diversey or Belmont should grow an extra lane in each direction for 1/4 of a mile is beyond me - it just invites traffic to jockey for position when there is the inevitable merge at the next street, and of course cyclists aren't factored into this equation.

 

Closely related to this is the more endemic problem of motorists using the so-called "rush hour lanes" (pure fantasy, IMO) as extra lanes of traffic.  Sorry drivers, and I am one as well, but a no parking designation doesn't equate to a lane for you to drive in unless said lane has been clearly demarcated.

 

Cameron Puetz said:

The worst is the one two punch on most east/west routes on the northwest side of the belly bulge built under the Kennedy followed almost immediately by the pinch point created by the Union Pacific viaduct.

James Baum said:

In my opinion these belly bulges are some of the the most dangerous areas to ride a bike in this city right behind the pinch-points like bridges and under/overpasses where there isn't enough room even for the existing traffic lanes and no extra space (protected or not) for us who chose to ride human-powered two wheeled transportation and don't want to end up as a ghost bike. 

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