South Suburban Chicago Commuting

I've been interested in bike commuting to the city for work from the South Suburbs for some time but have reservations about some of the areas I would have to commute thru before I could pick up the Lake Shore path.

 

Are there any South Suburban commuters that can offer suggestions or advice?

Views: 102

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jared on June 6, 2011 at 4:15am
From what suburb would you be coming from?
Permalink Reply by Jennifer Gettings on June 6, 2011 at 4:16am
Homewood
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 6, 2011 at 4:40am
Calling Steve B - does our knowledgeable Homewoodite have any suggestions?

ferjenni said:
Homewood
Permalink Reply by Jennifer Gettings on June 6, 2011 at 5:12am

My specific question: Is it worth my time to ride East and pick up the Burnham Greenway Trail North of Hegewish and then ride S Chicago Ave and pick up the Lakefront Trail from there?

 

If not, I have looked at the using part of the Major Taylor Trail but I have concerns about the connections on both the North and South ends of this trail.

Permalink Reply by Jim Behymer on June 6, 2011 at 6:08am

The Major Taylor Trail looks like it would at least solve one of the problems you'll have commuting from that far south--crossing the Cal Sag safely. Seems like most of the bridges crossing the channel are 4 lane motoring monstrosities with 50mph traffic. I haven't been on the trail down that way but looks like it crosses on a repurposed train bridge, which would be nice and keep you away from motorists.

I commute from Midlothian once or twice a week during warmer weather and my usual route takes me on about a half-mile of the Major Taylor trail toward the northern end of it. I catch the trail right by the 91st St. Metra station and ride it up to 87th & Damen, taking Damen north from there for a while. The trail continues past that but I haven't checked it out since the connection to Damen right there is so convenient.  

Damen heading north from 87th is mostly OK--the bike lanes disappear between 79th and 71st, and the pavement isn't always in the best shape, and some of the areas you're riding through are a little run down, but I've never had any bad problems. YMMV obviously. 

My route from there takes me north to Garfield, west over to California, then north to Archer and northeast on Archer to Halsted, continuing north from there.  

I rarely get as far east as you're talking about but looking up that Burnham Greenway trail, it doesn't look like enough of a trail to go out of the way for. Have you ridden it before?

Permalink Reply by S on June 6, 2011 at 6:38am

I've ridden east of where you are and have to say going from wolf lake -> burnham greenway -> then picking up US 41 after a short stretch on indianapolis ave is fairly nice.  Indy Ave is a bit sketchy but you're only on it for about 400m and then you're on fairly quiet and wide open roads.  Taking US 41 north puts you right at the LFT just south of the south shore cultural center.   I'm not sure if there's a quicker route but if you don't mind riding east for a bit, the burnham greenway -> LFT route isn't bad at all.  Just a caveat, I've gone that way on the weekends and the traffic isn't bad, not sure what it's like no weekdays during commute times.

 

ferjenni said:

My specific question: Is it worth my time to ride East and pick up the Burnham Greenway Trail North of Hegewish and then ride S Chicago Ave and pick up the Lakefront Trail from there?

 

If not, I have looked at the using part of the Major Taylor Trail but I have concerns about the connections on both the North and South ends of this trail.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Gettings on June 6, 2011 at 6:58am

My end commute in the city is two blocks from the Lake. So, I have to get East at some point. I have not taken Burnham Greenway nor Major Taylor yet.

I'm considering Burnham Greenway only because on the Southern end, my trek East to pick this up and head North is in areas that I'm familiar with and therefore more comfortable. If I head directly North and then ride East from the Major Taylor to LFP I'm riding thru areas that I'm not overly familiar with. At least not in regards to bike routes. I also have the connection from Homewood to Major Taylor to consider.

Permalink Reply by S on June 6, 2011 at 7:39am
Burnham Greenway is fairly nice. And US 41 is a pretty good route, it doesn't get much traffic and at times you have a nice big two lane road to yourself.  There's a few spots where the pavement is a bit rough just south of s. shore drive.  However S. Shore Drive has a bike lane going from 83rd to 71st where the LFP starts.  It gets more traffic including buses but it's not bad at all.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 6, 2011 at 9:20am

Connecting with the Major Taylor Trail at the south end is a little challenging.  Traffic tends to move fairly fast on Halsted south of there.  I haven't tried Indiana, so I don't know if it moves quite as fast.  Coming out of Whistler Woods, the bridge for the trail is cantilevered off the side of a railroad bridge.

  At the north end, the most direct option is to exit the trail at 87th & Damen and ride north on Damen to 83rd.  There isn't a 100% direct route to get to the lakefront from there.  83rd is interrupted near Vincennes due to rail lines, so I usually detour north on Morgan to 81st.  83rd is a bit narrow here, and pavement is rough, so it requires some caution.  I take 81st east to Vincennes, then south to continue on EB 83rd.  This is a straight shot until the Skyway, where you have to detour SE on Vincent to Jeffery, then north on Jeffery to continue EB to the lakefront route. In some sections, the neighborhoods are nice and fairly quiet.  In others, keeping your eyes open is a good idea, especially later in the day.

Jim's suggestion of going north on Damen for a while, then going over to California, works well if you're going to points west but adds a lot of extra mileage if you're going to a near-lakefront destination. For anyone doing a ride where a western route would work, I like to take either 71st or Marquette west to California. Archer works from there, but you have to be comfortable with heavy fast traffic. California can be ridden north of Archer, but it's fairly hairy from 35th up to 31st due to the Stevenson interchange and bridge over the Ship & Sanitary Canal. Going NE on Archer, then going north on one of the following bridges works: Loomis (1400W), Halsted (800W) or Canal (500W).


Jim Behymer said:

The Major Taylor Trail looks like it would at least solve one of the problems you'll have commuting from that far south--crossing the Cal Sag safely. Seems like most of the bridges crossing the channel are 4 lane motoring monstrosities with 50mph traffic. I haven't been on the trail down that way but looks like it crosses on a repurposed train bridge, which would be nice and keep you away from motorists.

I commute from Midlothian once or twice a week during warmer weather and my usual route takes me on about a half-mile of the Major Taylor trail toward the northern end of it. I catch the trail right by the 91st St. Metra station and ride it up to 87th & Damen, taking Damen north from there for a while. The trail continues past that but I haven't checked it out since the connection to Damen right there is so convenient.  

Damen heading north from 87th is mostly OK--the bike lanes disappear between 79th and 71st, and the pavement isn't always in the best shape, and some of the areas you're riding through are a little run down, but I've never had any bad problems. YMMV obviously. 

My route from there takes me north to Garfield, west over to California, then north to Archer and northeast on Archer to Halsted, continuing north from there.  

I rarely get as far east as you're talking about but looking up that Burnham Greenway trail, it doesn't look like enough of a trail to go out of the way for. Have you ridden it before?

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on June 6, 2011 at 9:27am

Active Trans's Southland Coordinator Steve Buchtel has commuted to our offices downtown from his home in Markham and later Homewood a few times a year since 1995. He knows all the routes and advises that while plenty of neighborhoods have bad reputations, all of them have good routes through. And if you just can't find a comfortable route for you, Pace buses often can get you across the gap to where you are comfortable putting your bike in the street again.

 

Drop him a line: 708/365-9365 or steve@activetrans.org.

 

Thanks,

Ethan Spotts, Active Trans

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Gettings on June 6, 2011 at 9:42am

Thanks to everyone for all of the information you've provided to help me puzzle out my route. I imagine once I just do it, it won't seem quite so insurmountable.

 

Ethan, I'm going to drop Steve an email. Thanks for the connection.

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service