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They haven't done it yet, because the issue isn't just that the sidewalk is too narrow. There are also two dangerous intersections with poor visibility, and a lot of cross traffic (both cars and pedestrians). A PBL alone would not resolve this.
A flyover, despite its costs, make a lot of sense in this particular situation, because it will separate thru traffic from local traffic.
A PBL would do a lot of good though. If you made replaced the rightmost lane with a two-way PBL that would ease a lot of the congestion and more importantly it would eliminate the ped-bike-skater bottleneck at the intersections, which is where things really seem dangerous. You'd still be sharing the walkbridge a little to the south, but that's a much smaller stretch. And visibility for bikes would be much better without having to circle around those big poles on the sidewalk.
I don't think the effect on traffic would be great, but that's hard to say. Having two car lanes feeding into a single-lane on-ramp doesn't seem all that useful, and Grand certainly doesn't need to be a two-way street east of LSD, which seems to be a sop to Lakepoint tower. I wonder if CDOT did any any studies on it during the flyover proposal period.
Duppie said:
They haven't done it yet, because the issue isn't just that the sidewalk is too narrow. There are also two dangerous intersections with poor visibility, and a lot of cross traffic (both cars and pedestrians). A PBL alone would not resolve this.
A flyover, despite its costs, make a lot of sense in this particular situation, because it will separate thru traffic from local traffic.
Not sure what budget cutting you are referring to.
The majority of Navy Pier flyover costs are borne by CMAQ, with matching grants (I think about 20% of total costs) from local governments. If I am not mistaken the flyover was just granted $11.3 million today. With that money available and it being a high profile project, and our new mayor being pro-biking, I do think that in fact will be built.
See a list of CMAQ grants here:
http://www.bikelib.org/2011/10/cmaq-grants-announced-include-bike-t...
Chuckchuck said:
But my point is they will never build it. With all the budget cutting there is no way. Let's make it safer in the mean time.
I say leave it as is. I ride it most of the year. When it is crowded it adds maybe 5 minutes to my commute. I can live with that. It's only dangerous for those who make it dangerous.
Really? 40 Million on a flyover when there are so many pressing needs for the cycling community such as red zones and better lane painting? Jurisdiction problems solved with a 40 million dollar bridge? When a few protective poles and some paint and some good signage would do? Big contracts reek of corruption in this city. I still predict it bites the dust and we need a plan B.
For a guy that seems to know very little about the actual funding process of bicycling infrastructure and urban planning in general, and that appears to be unfamiliar with the progress on the flyover so far, you definitely do have a strong opinion on the matter...
Chuckchuck said:
Really? 40 Million on a flyover when there are so many pressing needs for the cycling community such as red zones and better lane painting? Jurisdiction problems solved with a 40 million dollar bridge? When a few protective poles and some paint and some good signage would do? Big contracts reek of corruption in this city. I still predict it bites the dust and we need a plan B.
For a guy that seems to know very little about the actual funding process of bicycling infrastructure and urban planning in general, and that appears to be unfamiliar with the progress on the flyover so far, you definitely do have a strong opinion on the matter...
Chuckchuck said:
Really? 40 Million on a flyover when there are so many pressing needs for the cycling community such as red zones and better lane painting? Jurisdiction problems solved with a 40 million dollar bridge? When a few protective poles and some paint and some good signage would do? Big contracts reek of corruption in this city. I still predict it bites the dust and we need a plan B.
I'd like to rekindle this discussion if anyone is game?
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