The Chainlink

Kinzie or Grand?

I'm trying to commute Hyde Park/LFT to Logan Square and have lately found Kinzie to be an absolute stress ball trying to get to Milwaukee/Elston. I've noticed on Strava a lot of bikes taking the LFT to Grand to Mil. Do you just ride in traffic on Grand? I'm wondering if riding in traffic on Grand would be less stressful than dealing with the stop sign/valet/pedestrian insanity on Kinzie. Thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 16, 2015 at 8:07pm

I find Kinzie to be worlds nicer than Grand but your mileage may vary. Why not give Grand a shot?

In my experience Grand is tolerable in River North; even though the bike lane is often disrespected, it's generally so congested that it feels fairly safe. It's when the street opens up as you go west that I start feeling uncomfortable. That, for me, is enough to make Kinzie the clear winner.

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on May 17, 2015 at 12:39am

I rode from Logan to Hyde Park for many years and preferred Milwaukee to Halsted to 26th. But to each their own!

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 17, 2015 at 7:26pm

I did this as well when commuting from Wicker Park to Hyde Park. Halsted sucks right now due to the construction north of UIC, but circa 2011/12 it was a good option. My roommate didn't have the patience and opted for the lakefront; he usually beat me down there. ;)

Permalink Reply by Adam Kitzmann on May 17, 2015 at 12:18pm

I find that Hubbard through River North is usually the least crazy, I would always take that form Michigan to Kingsbury (Where EastBank Club is) then get on to Kinzie there. But really anything in River North just pretty much sucks. Part of riding in the City. Grand is nightmare, I'd avoid that as much as you can, it has a "Bike Lane" but there are always cars, cabs, busses and pedestrians in it, so it's more a false sense of security IMO.

Permalink Reply by Tandemonium on May 17, 2015 at 9:00pm

I'm surprised you would try to navigate the loop area at all for this route. Go straight North until you need to go West, say Belmont. My bet is that it takes you an additional 5minutes and you can skip a ton of stress.

Permalink Reply by Rich S on May 18, 2015 at 10:18am

Working in Streeterville I make this choice twice almost every day. The occasional exceptions are when I take Clybourn. Between Grand and Kinzie I almost always take Kinzie. Like others have said the bike lane on Grand is more hectic than Kinzie's. Also the approach to Orleans and Halsted from the east both really suck on Grand during evening rush hour. 

Considering your destination is Logan Square I agree with Tandemonium about avoiding River North. You could take Roosevelt to avoid downtown from the south but I personally don't like riding that street. It might work for you. Another possible option is Harrison over to Greektown. Then head north on Halsted to Milwaukee/Grand or take a left on Washington and take that to Damen. 

North of downtown you could take Division, Armitage/Cortland, or Webster as route options if Belmont is too far north. 

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on May 18, 2015 at 10:25am

This is not as direct and will definitely take longer, but what about 18th to Morgan, Morgan to Hubbard, Hubbard to Noble and Noble to Milwaukee?  It is a very low stress route.

Oh--on Morgan when you get to the UIC campus you have about a quarter of a block on paths through campus to Harrison and then you are back on Morgan.

Going back, Noble is one-way northbound between Augusta and Milwaukee. I would take Wolcott to Wood to Augusta and east on Augusta to Noble. 

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 18, 2015 at 12:12pm

Lisa, these suggestions are great. My suspicion is that the OP is the type of cyclist who prefers to stop as little as possible, hence the distaste for Kinzie. But I'm with you. If it's a low-stress route I don't mind stop signs, etc.

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 19, 2015 at 12:51pm

Ha, color me wrong (per mweerd's comment below)

Permalink Reply by mweerd on May 19, 2015 at 9:57am

Hmm, going to try this route - thanks for the suggestion! If anything it would be cool to take a tour - :) Sometimes we can get locked into the same old paths - nice for a change up.

Permalink Reply by Filka Bean on May 19, 2015 at 9:01am

Right now the Harrison bridge is closed- supposedly they got the east half done but the west half is under a separate contract(!)  http://www.circleinterchange.org/under_construction/west_harrison.aspx 

Even so, I would rather take 18th across to Halsted and sprint over the Halsted bridge rather than deal with the LFT north of 18th...

Permalink Reply by mweerd on May 19, 2015 at 9:55am

Thanks for the advice everyone! Seems like consensus is Kinzie > Grand.

Roosevelt is a good option in the morning - but a bit too crazy for me in the afternoon -- although I would probably take that to get to Milwaukee if they'd move the bike lane from Canal to Jefferson. The bike lane going S on Clinton is gorgeous - but Canal is too crowded. I wonder who makes that call.

Sometimes I'll ride in traffic on Jefferson going north cause that seems safer than Canal bike lane - plus I'm getting fast enough to take a lane to myself - but that always invites stress. It doesn't matter if you're going just as fast as all the cars - a lot of cars get hostile by instinct I think when they see a bike in the middle of a lane.

But I've since given up on getting anywhere in the city fast and prefer safe, slow(er) and as low stress as possible.

Hmm - trying to go North to a West route - sometimes I'll go LFT to say Armitage - Elston - but I wouldn't say riding Belmont from the lake to Logan Sq feels very safe.

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