New protected bike lanes announced - Elston, 18th

Our team at the MBAC meeting just let us know that Elston (Division to North) and 18th (Clinton to Clark) will be the next protected bike lanes by the end of this year!

 

Thanks, CDOT!

 

Ethan Spotts, Active Trans

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Permalink Reply by Liz on September 14, 2011 at 10:58am

I'm not sure how I feel about adding protected lanes from Division to North on Elston.

I normally don't use Elston for cycling because the its a terrible bike route between Courtland and Diversey.  I instead prefer to ride on Clybourn, even though there aren't any bike lanes since the traffic is much more predictable and the 6 way intersections have better layouts for cycling.  

 

Are there any future plans to address the areas of Elston that are prohibitive to cycling in the future? 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on September 14, 2011 at 11:39am
Yea, I'd like to see them build a protective bike lane right through Elston/Damen/Fullerton, the worst intersection on the NW side.

Cameron Puetz said:
While I’m excited to see more protected lanes, I’m disappointed with the location choices. Both of these stretches of road are already great for cycling and it seems like a waste of resources to improve an already good stretch of road instead of fixing a bad stretch. I’d rather see these lanes shifted to Elston from Cortland to Logan and 18th from Halsted to Canal to address the problem spots that prevent these streets from being good cycling routes.

On a side note it would be nice if the MBAC meetings were at a time more people could attend instead of always being when most people are at work.
Permalink Reply by Joel on September 14, 2011 at 11:39am
It would also be great to get better access to Elton from Division or North.  Division east of Elston is a complete disaster.  There are two terrible bridges, countless potholes, the auto traffic is horrible because of the Halsted Bridge repair.  North is also unsafe, though for different reasons.
Permalink Reply by Dubi Kaufmann on September 14, 2011 at 11:43am
Awesome. The bridge on 18th needs those bike friendly panels.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on September 14, 2011 at 12:33pm
I think the improvements to 18th will help a lot of people.  This route may not see the volume of commute traffic that Milwaukee and Kinzie get, but it's important to many cyclists at all hours throughout the week.

Dubi Kaufmann said:
Awesome. The bridge on 18th needs those bike friendly panels.
Permalink Reply by Tim S on September 14, 2011 at 12:59pm
Not really a need on Elston is there? Pretty free of traffic and wide as all get out. Perhaps I am not riding it at the right time to see a need.
Permalink Reply by Joel on September 14, 2011 at 1:01pm
Drivers will fly down it waaaay above the speed limit frequently, and there are some semi-blind intersections.  A few semis are parked in the bike lane most days, so it will be interesting to see what they do.

Tim S said:
Not really a need on Elston is there? Pretty free of traffic and wide as all get out. Perhaps I am not riding it at the right time to see a need.
Permalink Reply by Joel on September 14, 2011 at 2:57pm
It might be one of the cheaper places to start building a protected lane on Elston, preparing to go farther in the future.

Cameron Puetz said:
Agreed, I live near Elston and Division and ride Elston pretty regularly. I rarely have any problems until I get north of Cortland.


Tim S said:
Not really a need on Elston is there? Pretty free of traffic and wide as all get out. Perhaps I am not riding it at the right time to see a need.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on September 14, 2011 at 3:17pm

I'll go out on a limb and say that the location of these bike lanes has to do with feasibility more than need.

Of the four bike lanes announced three are on streets that have relatively few residents and or retail businesses, so there is no one around to complain. Smart moves by the respective aldermen that carries little political risk

 

I still want to see them put a bike lane on Milwaukee/Clark/Wells/Lincoln/Southport/Name-any-other-street-in-a-gentrified-neighborhood-with-lots-of-retail.

Permalink Reply by Tim S on September 14, 2011 at 3:21pm
Do you think that those will ever be realized? Those are some tough streets to convert.
Permalink Reply by Joel on September 14, 2011 at 3:21pm
It will also give them some experience building them before trying to tackle the harder roads.

Duppie said:

I'll go out on a limb and say that the location of these bike lanes has to do with feasibility more than need.

Of the four bike lanes announced three are on streets that have relatively few residents and or retail businesses, so there is no one around to complain. Smart moves by the respective aldermen that carries little political risk

Permalink Reply by Tim S on September 14, 2011 at 3:31pm


soud'side said:
Not clear who you're responding to, sorry  . . .

Tim S said:
Do you think that those will ever be realized? Those are some tough streets to convert.

That was for Duppie

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