Sidewalk Riders Revisited
Sign prevalent along Sheridan Road in Rogers Park:
THIRD, yes THIRD, sidewalk rider to blow past us in a single block:
Views: 791
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Moc Artsy on
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No, it's Rogers Park (no apostrophe and no "d"), Do a quick google search for "Rodger's Park" and you will get results for "Rogers Park," as anyone else would and will. I think it would do you good, H, to admit you were wrong.
h' said:By the way-- it's "Rodger's Park."
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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on
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It's got nothing to do with "zoning". I just used the word to mean "area."
This special fine areas are specifically mentioned in Chicago ordinance. I believe there's some gereral wording about "business areas" or "business districts,", and N. Sheridan was specifically mentioned in a separate paragraph.
No time to look it up right now.
April said:Interesting. There isn't anything specific on the signs about zoning. Plus there are some in my neighborhood too, Jefferson Park. I wonder if there are signs in other parts of the city and whether there is a move to make this a city-wide law or if it will just apply to certain zones like you said.
The sidewalk pictured here does not look conducive to bike riding for any type of rider because of the cafe and such but the signs in my neighborhood are on a fairly quiet neighborhood sidewalk with a Jewel, the post office, the library and is across the street from a park. They were added alongside our brand-new bike lanes. I suppose the message is, now you have your bike lanes, stay off the sidewalk. This makes sense for most adult riders, however the street is very busy and I could see the groups I mentioned above feeling very uncomfortable riding in the bike lanes.
Perhaps these fine zones will only be on streets where an existing safe alternative for bikes is in place. I sure hope so!
h' said:The context here is that this is a special zone in which special fines exist for sidewalk riding, due to senior citizens in the area feeling threatened by bikes on the sidewalk and hammering the alderman about it at every community meeting for years.
It would take an equal or greater number of seniors and families with children who want to ride bikes on the sidewalk equally hammering the alderman to get the special penalties backed off.
April said:Arrest or temporary disabling of your bike!! For a first offense? Whatever happened to good old fashioned tickets? They don't put a boot on your car or arrest you the first time you're caught speeding!
It is a good that the city is finally letting people know that there is a law against riding on the sidewalk. I wish that there were also signs reminding cars that they must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks! I think both laws are not widely known!
I do wonder about the sidewalk law though for certain riders: Senior citizens, new riders and families with children probably should be allowed to ride on the sidewalks on streets with heavy traffic and/or no bike lanes.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Korn on
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From the Municipal Code of Chicago:
http://www.chicagobikes.org/bikelaws/?show=search&chapter=9&...
9-52-021- Riding bicycles on sidewalks–Penalty - Permalink
(a) The penalty for any person age 18 and older who rides a bicycle on the sidewalk adjacent to North Sheridan Road, between West Ardmore Avenue and West Sheridan Road (6400 north) shall be as follows: (1) the bicycle shall be temporarily disabled without permanent damage; and (2) the violator shall be subject to a fine of $50.00. (b) Following passage and approval, this section shall be in force and effect upon posting of signage notifying bicyclists of the penalty for violation of this section.
Added Coun. J. 2-6-02, p. 79154, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 6-4-03, p. 2538, § 1
h' said:
It's got nothing to do with "zoning". I just used the word to mean "area."
This special fine areas are specifically mentioned in Chicago ordinance. I believe there's some gereral wording about "business areas" or "business districts,", and N. Sheridan was specifically mentioned in a separate paragraph.
No time to look it up right now.
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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So does anyone know what the purpose of "temporarily disabled without permanent damage" is? I suppose it is punitive since that is the point -it's a punishment for breaking the rulez. Perhaps the city wants the bike off the sidewalk for X-number of hours/days but doesn't want the hassle of impounding it?
Do they just U-lock the bike to something/somewhere and give you the key later?
Has this ever been done to anyone? I'd like to hear some first-hand accounts.
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Permalink Reply by Jason W on
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Typical pandering government assholes... Just start throwing around fines instead of actually making a bike lane (which would actually fix the problem). Hey, they gotta keep the old folks happy. They actually vote!
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The easy thing to do after that is pull out my tool pack with my pump and fill them back up. 2 minutes later I'd be up and running again.
Jared said:
The easy thing to do is let the air out of the tires.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Willis on
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We have these signs in Buena Park and I often see people biking on the sidewalk. I have also NEVER seen a cop who gives a crap about this law. I bet it is ignored as much as the cell phone laws.
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Permalink Reply by Jared on
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Even with bike lanes people still ride on the sidewalk, although probably not as much as they would if there wasn't one at all.
Jason W said:
Typical pandering government assholes... Just start throwing around fines instead of actually making a bike lane (which would actually fix the problem). Hey, they gotta keep the old folks happy. They actually vote!
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Permalink Reply by Sara Gmitter on
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Thanks for posting the code. It's interesting, I've seen those signs and some of them, like the one right when you get off the LFP at Ardmore specifies 12 and younger as the age its ok to be on the sidewalk. But the code below says 18.
On a side note, it does seem a little odd to have 'extra' enforcement or threat of enforcement in certain areas based on who kicks up the most fuss. Like, the law is the law but you can get more law if you happen to have a lot of time on your hands to make phone calls and visit offices. That seems transparently unfair. Opaquely unfair is what I'm more used to.
Dan Korn said:From the Municipal Code of Chicago:
http://www.chicagobikes.org/bikelaws/?show=search&chapter=9&...
9-52-021- Riding bicycles on sidewalks–Penalty - Permalink
(a) The penalty for any person age 18 and older who rides a bicycle on the sidewalk adjacent to North Sheridan Road, between West Ardmore Avenue and West Sheridan Road (6400 north) shall be as follows: (1) the bicycle shall be temporarily disabled without permanent damage; and (2) the violator shall be subject to a fine of $50.00. (b) Following passage and approval, this section shall be in force and effect upon posting of signage notifying bicyclists of the penalty for violation of this section.
Added Coun. J. 2-6-02, p. 79154, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 6-4-03, p. 2538, § 1
h' said:
It's got nothing to do with "zoning". I just used the word to mean "area."
This special fine areas are specifically mentioned in Chicago ordinance. I believe there's some gereral wording about "business areas" or "business districts,", and N. Sheridan was specifically mentioned in a separate paragraph.
No time to look it up right now.
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Permalink Reply by Tim S on
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Not to be a jerk or anything but all one has to do is ride a block west to Kenmore or Winthrop. It seems like such a non issue to me. I don't want to ride on Sheridan and do not want to ride on the sidewalk so I take those alternates.
Never understood why it's so hard to grasp. Perhaps better signage to direct bikes west rather than poor signage saying your gonna get fined.
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On a related note the contra-flow bike lane on Ardmore from the path terminus to those streets is no longer there. Not sure if it will be redrawn or not.
Tim S said:
Not to be a jerk or anything but all one has to do is ride a block west to Kenmore or Winthrop. It seems like such a non issue to me. I don't want to ride on Sheridan and do not want to ride on the sidewalk so I take those alternates.
Never understood why it's so hard to grasp. Perhaps better signage to direct bikes west rather than poor signage saying your gonna get fined.
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