Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by daWillinChi on August 6, 2013 at 6:54am

Van Buren to Canal. Then south on Canal until 27th and right on 27th.

or

South on State and turn right on 26th then left on Normal or Wallace St.

or this:  http://goo.gl/maps/2yKZ2

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Permalink Reply by David P. on August 6, 2013 at 6:55am

I would take Dearborn down to the end of the lane at Dearborn Station, then either State, Wabash or Canal south according to your taste to 26th and then west and down a block. Archer is sort of the pits further west, but it is fine over there, so you can cut a bit of distance off by using Archer.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on August 6, 2013 at 8:00am

uh, State is not pleasant riding south of the loop. Going a block east to the bike lanes on Wabash is well worth it if you want to go that route. The best way to get to Wabash (or State) from Dearborn is to go east on Polk for one block to Plymouth, take that south to 16th and take that east to Wabash to 18th to State for a very long block (which you might want to consider the sidewalk even though it is illegal - State is like a four lane highway there) to Archer.

If you've never been over it, you should consider taking the 18th St bridge at least once. It has protected bike lanes and a pretty spectacular view of downtown and the newly spruced up Ping Tom Park (with a Jeanne Gang boathouse which opened like last week) and the river and lots of rail infrastructure.

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Permalink Reply by grayn8 on August 6, 2013 at 8:23am

I would agree with Will, but if looking to avoid van burden and canal:

I've taken Dearborn south
Turning left at the end then right on state
At the Roose head over one block to wabash, nice bike lane
It'll dead ends so you'll have to ride Michigan one block, but you'll be right by Mercy hospital
Bike lane at 26th and over

States construction has been cleaned up a lot, but its still pretty crazy broken up. 18th street in front of police btw state and Clark is finally repaved.

Canal south of the Roose gets agro hectic riders like state (IMHO). Avoid the stress 26 and Wabash are nice

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on August 6, 2013 at 9:47am

That's close to my daily commute. IME, you should take Canal.

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Permalink Reply by in it to win it 8.0 mi on August 20, 2013 at 6:18am

Could I just go West on Van Buren to Halsted then South to 26th?  Is this sketchy or bad roads?

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on August 20, 2013 at 6:23am

Halsted is pretty crappy riding until you get to Harrison. But that is only a block. Last time I checked, Van Buren was also pretty crappy for those last couple of blocks east of Halsted. When I'm going that way I take Clinton south to Harrison west. It is also not a great ride- especially around the Greyhound station, but the fuss and hub-bub of the bus station has resulted in drivers not expecting the outside lane to be viable, so you can often just take the whole lane.

Halsted might seem a bit sketchy here and there, but it isn't. The worst riding will be going under the rail viaduct south of the river. It is four lanes and the right lane is marked as Yield for Bikes, but unless you are aggressive and take the lane, it isn't a given that anyone will yield for you. 

in it to win it 8.0 mi said:

Could I just go West on Van Buren to Halsted then South to 26th?  Is this sketchy or bad roads?

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Permalink Reply by Norman 5 on August 21, 2013 at 3:59am

Halsted can be hectic north of Harrison like everyone have mention, at the Archer intersection and 26th street. Right before the Archer intersection the viaduct narrows a lot and there could be a lot of traffic. Also, when heading south there, CTA bus makes a right turn. I see a lot of cyclist hop onto the curb there to avoid the bus. And on 26th and Halsted, a lot of cars heading south makes left turns and there is no left turn light/lane and lets just say the drivers in the area really don't understand right of way. I would actually go a block or 2 south to make the turn. That is where Mark Sheridan is anyways.

I would really avoid Canal. Car are flying down the road and when there are the buses parked along Canal south of Roosevelt I just think it's really unsafe unless you take a whole lane and force the cars to move over one lane.

Wabash to 26th is prolly the less hectic route but longer.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 21, 2013 at 4:16am

The viaduct on S Halsted is four lanes? I could've sworn it was only 2 lanes total, with decent "shoulder room" for biking.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on August 21, 2013 at 6:25am

uh, hmm... I might have been thinking of Canal? 

Alex Z said:

The viaduct on S Halsted is four lanes? I could've sworn it was only 2 lanes total, with decent "shoulder room" for biking.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on August 23, 2013 at 3:19pm

We rode under it tonight (tots! beer! awesome black bean burgers! Skylark!). It is kind of hard to be sure, as the street markings are almost completely worn off, but I'm pretty sure it is four lanes. The car drivers sure treat it as such.

Tony Adams 7 mi said:

uh, hmm... I might have been thinking of Canal? 

Alex Z said:

The viaduct on S Halsted is four lanes? I could've sworn it was only 2 lanes total, with decent "shoulder room" for biking.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 23, 2013 at 4:04pm

Hmm...maybe we're thinking of two different places. I was thinking of the one just a bit south of the UIC campus area. I can't believe that's a full four-lane road at the viaduct, particularly because it's two lanes both before and after.

But now I'm remembering, there's that other viaduct further south, just north of the Halsted Orange Line station. THAT I can believe is four lanes. Is that the one you're talking about?

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