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 Steven Vance on June 27, 2012 at 3:01am

Yes, driving and parking in the bike lane is the reason for the move. I reported it on Grid Chicago.

I've personally witnessed multiple instances of driving in the bike lane, and have been made aware of several others. Please keep Alderman Solis and I apprised of any automobile activity in the 18th Street bike lane over the river. 


Tony Adams said:

CDOT moved the bollards on 18th. I'm guessing to address the cars driving in the lane problem?


I snapped this pic before the move. It shows the old location and a spot of paint showing the new location.

I have not noticed anyone driving in the lane since, but I only saw one incident before - my observation is entirely anecdotal.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 27, 2012 at 3:03am

I saw this last night. There's an interesting curve in the design for drivers going northbound just north of Cortez Street. I'll post a photo later. 

I despise it when people park in bike lanes, but I give these people a pass because the new bike lane hasn't been completed yet. 

Gopher Biker said:

They were painting the protected bike lane lines on Elston between Division and Augusta yesterday afternoon when I rode through the area on the commute home. This morning on the way into to work, there 3 cars were parked in the lane on the west side of Elston between Cortez and Augusta - to be fair it is a bit confusing there right now without the bike symbols on the road, bollards or signage.

Permalink Reply by Gopher Biker on June 27, 2012 at 3:56am

I noticed that on the curve as well.

I will not be surprised if they end up removing some of the bollards just north of the Division/Elston intersection - trucks seem to be having a hard time making a left onto north Elston from Division due to the fact that the cars going south on Elston don't always stop at the white bar (or whatever that marking is called).

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 27, 2012 at 4:37am

The white bar is called a stop bar. You're close!

Many of the trucks are transporting automobiles and were parked where the bike lane is now. They can't anymore, thank goodness. One I saw Tuesday night was parked in an empty parking lot. The horror. 

I'll be watching this (truck turning difficulties) closer. 

To all: I believe there was a thread from last summer about McGrath car dealership workers parking or driving around cyclists funnily or in the bike lane (don't recall). I ask that those who ride on Elston keep watch over the bike lane. Let's not lose another one. 


Gopher Biker said:

I will not be surprised if they end up removing some of the bollards just north of the Division/Elston intersection - trucks seem to be having a hard time making a left onto north Elston from Division due to the fact that the cars going south on Elston don't always stop at the white bar (or whatever that marking is called).

Permalink Reply by Gopher Biker on June 27, 2012 at 4:43am

I'm through that area twice a day and haven't had any issues with the McGrath folks. Here is the link to the discussion you were probably thinking of: http://tinyurl.com/mcgrath-elston

Permalink Reply by Gopher Biker on June 27, 2012 at 11:47am

There were at least 17 cars parked in the bike lanes (both sides of the street) on Elston between Augusta and Cortez when I biked through there around 4:30 this afternoon - let me see, at $150/ticket plus towing and storage fees the city could make a bit of coin.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on June 27, 2012 at 2:35pm

I notice the same thing at 3:30, but I lost count :)

Permalink Reply by Gerry G on June 27, 2012 at 5:48pm

On Elston there's not enough space between the white stop bar and the curb to run a street sweeper.  The accumulating debris is going to have a 1/2 life of a berzillion light years.

 N(t) = N_0 \left(\frac {1}{2}\right)^{t/t_{1/2}}  

Did Elston really need the lanes in the first place?

I'd rather the city put curb parking spaces there.  Then remove some of the designated parking spaces at intersections.  If the city removes spaces, the contract with Chicago Parking Meters LLC requires that those spaces would need to be made up one for one.  I thought Elston would be a great spot to stick it to Chicago Parking Meters LLC.

But I digress...

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 27, 2012 at 9:18pm

Yes, it does need protected bike lanes. People drive very fast on Elston Avenue, and there are many curb cuts, but it works well as a fast route because it has few signalized or controlled intersections. The protected bike lane will help mitigate the fast driving and "unseeing" turn movements. 

Elston has no metered parking so the contract with CPM doesn't apply. 


Gerry G said:

Did Elston really need the lanes in the first place?

I'd rather the city put curb parking spaces there.  Then remove some of the designated parking spaces at intersections.  If the city removes spaces, the contract with Chicago Parking Meters LLC requires that those spaces would need to be made up one for one.  I thought Elston would be a great spot to stick it to Chicago Parking Meters LLC.

But I digress...

Permalink Reply by Gopher Biker on June 27, 2012 at 11:56pm

Only 8 cars in the bike lanes on Elston this morning between Cortez and Augusta when I pedaled through around 5:30 - an improvement over last night! They really need to send a sweeper through the protected lanes between Division and North, there is a ton of crap on the road.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on June 28, 2012 at 3:49am

I'd chalk this up to the fact that only the areas at the concrete medians were narrowed. I don't like the way the project turned out, either. 

h' said:

You know, I realize that narrowing the lane physically or visually is suposed to cause drivers to slow down according to every beginning traffic planner textbook, but I have to say I haven't seen this benefit much here.

I had my first opportunity to check out the results of the Humbolt Blvd "road diet" last Thursday evening (I was on foot) and was kind of disgusted to see a steady, uninterrupted stream of cars driving way too fast (except now in one lane instead of two . . .)-- didn't look one bit more like a street I'd feel safe biking on than it did before.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 28, 2012 at 4:00am

While I'm a fan of narrowing lanes and putting roads on diets, I am not a fan of physical barriers that narrow lanes in such a way as to force bikes into existential  conflict with automobiles due to  pinching where the bicycles traveling alongside of the lane are also pinched.

This is counter-productive.    One of the worst and most-dangerous of these poorly-thought out pinch-points is Kedzie where it crosses the Kennedy.  Going northbound the lane is constricted by a HUGE curb bump-out that puts 2-3 lanes of cars and bikes into a what might barely be called 2 narrow (but unmarked) lanes.     There is NOT enough room for 2 lanes of cars AND bikes to co-exist safely but cars will still try and jam into this area, with no safety margin for bikes at all if they happen to hit this area at the wrong time after the light turns.  

I'm sure there was some ill-thought-out traffic-engineer reason for this back when it was first built but it is stupid as all hell and very dangerous for bikes being pinched.    

if traffic lanes are  pinched/calmed when a road diet is executed then the bikes MUST HAVE a safety valve to move over and OUT of the pinched area -not be forced up against a hard curb by "calmed" auto traffic.   That is just a backwards design IMHO.   I really wish the traffic "engineers" would stop doing stupid things like that.



Steven Vance said:

I'd chalk this up to the fact that only the areas at the concrete medians were narrowed. I don't like the way the project turned out, either. 

h' said:

You know, I realize that narrowing the lane physically or visually is suposed to cause drivers to slow down according to every beginning traffic planner textbook, but I have to say I haven't seen this benefit much here.

I had my first opportunity to check out the results of the Humbolt Blvd "road diet" last Thursday evening (I was on foot) and was kind of disgusted to see a steady, uninterrupted stream of cars driving way too fast (except now in one lane instead of two . . .)-- didn't look one bit more like a street I'd feel safe biking on than it did before.

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