Rash of crashes - Chicago Reader - possible LFT improvement?

Noticed this article in the Chicago Reader this morning:

What’s causing the latest wave of cycling deaths and serious crashes?

One of the crashes occurred at LFT & Wilson:

The first of the three crashes that resulted in serious injuries took place on June 21 at the intersection of Wilson and the Lakefront Trail. At around 7:20 PM, a 61-year-old man who has not been named by police was bicycling north on the path and was critically injured by an eastbound SUV driver as he crossed Wilson. The driver, Liliana Flores, 32, received three traffic citations.

Note that the driver was headed eastbound. Without knowing what her citations were for, my guess is that she stopped for the stop sign at the off-ramp, then proceeded without checking the LFT for bikes.

I ride through that and the other similar intersections frequently, and it seems to me that their configuration could be improved. Here's a Google Earth view. In it I've used red lines to mark the current stops. I drew a yellow line to suggest how LFT could be moved east a bit to allow for a second eastbound stop. The corresponding three proposed stops are in blue. (I failed to draw a second westbound stop line. Should be about where the pin is in the map.) I may not have actually moved the path far enough east, but it should be fairly easy to push it a bit further to accommodate that second eastbound stop.

The intersections at Lawrence, Foster, and Montrose have similar issues. It looks almost as if the planners purposely turned LFT closer to the on- and off-ramps at all four intersections. I'm not sure what they were thinking.

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Permalink Reply by Mark on July 14, 2016 at 2:57am

The trail used to be farther to the east, but was moved closer to the LSD ramps over 10 years ago.  I had a close call yesterday evening at this intersection.  The current trail configuration puts northbound trail users, especially cyclists, totally in the blind spot of drivers turning right off of LSD.  Luckily I yelled loud enough that the car stopped, and I was able to avoid the collision.  I agree, the trail should be moved back east, or install a bridge or underpass for the trail.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 14, 2016 at 3:43am

> The trail used to be farther to the east, but was moved closer to the LSD ramps over 10 years ago.

Interesting. I wonder what the rationale was for that? Anybody know? I assume that 10 years ago there was less pedestrian & bike traffic on LFT.

Permalink Reply by Bill on July 14, 2016 at 4:41am

The biggest issue here are the confusing signs.  Cars have Stop signs both ways, and the path has Yield signs crossing.  Some people take that as bike/runners can just go, others stop and wait, and cars are confused.  

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 14, 2016 at 5:13am

Do all these intersections now have yield signs for bikes/pedestrians in both directions? For the longest time, there were none, then I remember seeing a few, but their placement certainly wasn't universal.

I still think pushing the trail east, away from the on/off ramps, would improve things. Cars would have stop signs right at the trail, and wouldn't have to leap across both the LSD ramps and the trail in one fell swoop. It would also make it more obvious to LFT users when a car was going to turn left onto LSD or go straight into the park. (As we all know, a car's turn signal doesn't always agree with the driver's intent.)

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