Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on July 27, 2012 at 2:59pm

Hi Tony,

 

Thank you so much for your detailed email. This issue has been brought up to us, our office is currently working with CDOT to address these issues, as they are a safety concern. Once we get some clarification on the plan to address them, I will reach out to you and communicate that.

 

And thank you for the kind words about the protected bike lane and new plates, I know the Alderman worked really hard to get them in the 25th Ward. Please let me know if you have any other concerns!

 

Take care,

Kristine

h' said:

Would be interested to hear whether yo get a response.

I've found Vince at the 25th to be great to deal with. He was forerly with streets/san and now he's on the office staff; he really knows the ward and he follows through.

Tony Adams said:

Just sent this to the 25th Ward alderman:

Greetings,

I am very grateful for  the protected bike lane on the 18th Street Bridge. Riding over that bridge provides a view of the 25th Ward and the City that is unparalleled and inspiring. The new plates on the metal section of the bridge are like icing on the cake.

However, intersection of 18th and Wentworth, at least for eastbound riders remains problematic. There are (at least) two issues which threaten the safety of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

1. A privacy screen hanging on the fenced in property on the south west corner of the intersection creates a somewhat blind corner. As a result, drivers often creep out into the bike lane to get a view of potentially crossing traffic. The privacy screen prevents drivers from seeing pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists until they are well into the intersection.

I'm not sure if the City can do anything about a fence on private property (assuming it is private property) but it would be great if the City could at least bring up the issue with the property owner.  Or perhaps there is another solution to this problem?

2. There is room for two motor vehicles to cross or turn onto 18th from northbound Wentworth. This can create a very hazardous situation as the view from the further east vehicle may be entirely blocked by another vehicle to its left. I'm not sure if two northbound (or turning) vehicles at that intersection is the intended use, but it is happening and it is dangerous. This could be addressed by a bumped out curb or other traffic calming device which would only allow one northbound car or truck into the intersection at a time. 

I appreciate all that you've done and continue to do to keep our City safe and healthy. I look forward to hearing from your office about these issues. If my concerns should have instead been directly directly to CDOT I'd also be grateful for any suggested contacts there.

thanks,

Tony Adams

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Permalink Reply by Don on July 31, 2012 at 5:22am

Elston *could* be great because there aren't any buses, and fewer places you have to thread the needle between parked cars and traffic.  But north of North Ave. you still have to go through two extremely dangerous intersections (Ashland and the clusterfuck at Damen/Fullerton).  Then turning west there are no good routes for bikes to go under the expressway.  Logan Blvd. is a deathtrap; not surprised there's a ghost bike.  And navigating the square to get to Wrightwood can be tough.  Milwaukee is still a little better than Elston because at least there's strength in numbers.

The entire northwest side west of Elston and north of Logan Square is pretty bike unfriendly. The Milwaukee bike lane ends north of Logan Square.  The blue line north of Logan Square doesn't have a station with even a recommended bike route leading to it, let alone bike lanes, until you get to Jefferson Park. Fortunately, I'm close enough to Diversey/Kostner where a small stretch of bike lane (poorly maintained and almost unmarked now) begins and goes all the way to Milwaukee.  I think that mile-or-so stretch is the only bike lane in Hermosa.  We got left out of the 2020 plan too.  Yay!

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Permalink Reply by Sebastian Baptiste on August 31, 2012 at 2:13pm

The Dutch also have a very different history with cars, and cities are built very differently. However, perhaps most importantly, they came to the realization that cars were killing their communities, and thereby a good deal of their commerce. Thinking along those lines, it became much easier to drastically curb car usage, and to give more public space to pedestrians, cyclists and public transportation.

Steven Vance said:

The Dutch build something of much higher quality that lasts longer: red-dyed asphalt, or red-dyed brick. Brick may not seem like it's good to ride on. A majority of cycle tracks in Amsterdam are made of brick. They are easier to repair (when broken by tree roots or cracking, just replace the broken bricks) and when installed well, are comfortable to ride on (the Dutch also tend to ride with tires >32mm and with less air than seems optimal). The Dutch use asphalt mostly for inter-city paths, or side paths (cycle tracks that are separated from the main roadway by some distance, and not attached to a sidewalk like urban cycle tracks). 

Daniel G said:

Don't the Dutch just mix up green-colored asphalt for bike lanes instead of dumping hundreds of gallons of special paint onto them every few months? I'm going to take a flying leap and say that we here in the United States do not do civic projects well at all anymore compared to over there, and large projects usually fall to pessimism, parasitism, and rent-seeking/profiteering. 

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