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Permalink Reply by Ernesto Lube on October 11, 2018 at 4:17am

To play Satan's advocate... during the busy summer season, there are more pedestrians there than cyclists. I am saying - use common sense when it is crowded with pedestrians. 

But whoever told you to walk your bike, they have other 1st world problems. I would have stuck my tongue out at them and given them a thumbs down. 

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Permalink Reply by wpm on October 11, 2018 at 5:03am

We shouldn't prevent the ordinance from being passed*. 

*We should however only allow it to be passed if it comes with a guarantee that a proper, high end separated bike lane will be built from a general traffic lane on Wacker, one in each direction, with good connection to the LFT in the east. If the City Council wants to remove one of the only decent E-W routes in the city, they can put another one in. 

Even bereft of pedestrians, the Riverwalk isn't a wholly convenient route to take, as it requires a journey down to water level, and makes taking a bike to any destination along Wacker harder as well, as you have to figure out how to get back up. This is a great opportunity to seize to argue for an even better route than the one they want to take away. 

Good cycle infrastructure isn't all about point to point commuting. 

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Permalink Reply by Gage B. on October 11, 2018 at 5:06am

If that’s the case, then they should disconnect it from the lakefront path which has painted bike symbols leading to the path that connects to the Riverwalk and also remove it from the official city of Chicago bike map as a bike path.

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Permalink Reply by Charlie Short 2.9 on October 11, 2018 at 12:57pm

If he's already introduced this ordinance, you're not getting an amendment (City Council doesn't work like Congress). You can, however attend the committee where this ordinance will get addressed and get folks to speak to the council.

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Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on October 11, 2018 at 6:25am

Here's the latest on the issue: https://chi.streetsblog.org/2018/10/10/the-city-posted-signs-threat...

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Permalink Reply by Gage B. on October 11, 2018 at 12:05pm

I just want everyone to know that this new sign exists on the lakefront path. 

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Permalink Reply by Charlie Short 2.9 on October 11, 2018 at 1:13pm

The Ordinance # is O2018-7034 and the next Pedestrian and Traffic Committee meeting is October 25. The agenda is not posted, but this ordinance will probably get reviewed then. Walter Burnett is the head of the committee, so reach out to him. These are the arguments I'd make to him against this ordinance:

-The Riverwalk is a bike commuting route, and while there is conflict at busy times, there are times, especially in the morning when there is no conflict so a 24/7 ban is overkill.

-The Code # this is changing (9-52-022) dictates the movement of bikes on Sidewalks and Streets, not Trails so technically this code would be unenforceable. They plan on plunking this next to "No riding on North Sheridan" when they should be putting this in the code that covers the parks.

-The federal government approved the Riverwalk as a multi-use path. When you violate the terms of a government grant, you risk losing the funds and suffering financial penalties for that violation (which is how they enforce this kind of stuff.) To so publicly disobey the terms of the original agreement would risk those penalties.

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Permalink Reply by Charlie Short 2.9 on October 11, 2018 at 1:18pm

Burnett's Phone:  (312) 432-1995 and (312) 744-6124

Website: http://aldermanburnett.com/

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