Sun Times: "Two Wheel Trouble."

A little more focus on supposed animosity between drivers and cyclists than necessary, but otherwise decently-researched article if one can look past the little tweaks for max. sensationalism:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/14787906-418/two-wheel-trouble-b...

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Permalink Reply by Bike Bloke on September 4, 2012 at 11:55am

The main part of Logan Blvd is a prime candidate for speed cameras. The quicker, the better.

James BlackHeron said:

I don't see the conflicts you are describing as anywhere near as dangerous or life-threatening as riding on the blvd where the outer lanes are not nearly wide enough to accommodation auto traffic and bicyclists at the same time and the cars are travelling at extra-legal speeds of 40+MPH.

Then there is the perhaps-legitimate anger that motorists feel when there is a bicyclist blocking their way and creating traffic-flow issues when there is a whole service drive built just a few feet away that bikes should probably be taking. I don't have an issue moving along at around 14MPH on my city bike or 18-20MPH on my road bike down the service drive here. The pavement is glass-smooth (unlike many other blvd's like Kedzie to the south) and I unashamedly Idaho-stop through all the controls.

IMHO, my life is too precious to take the more-dangerous blvd -I see many more life-threatening conflicts with fast-moving cages compared to the occasional ped or dog-walker on the service drives.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 4, 2012 at 12:02pm

I'm all for enforcement. I am a little leery of letting some big corporation like Halliburton have half of the "profits" from it.

Remember LAZ? Privatizing law enforcement services isn't a good idea. Does anyone remember Robocop?

Do you think that the big corporation that is making all that money off of speeders really would be thinking it would be a good idea to ever STOP speeding? Think about it...

Bike Bloke said:

The main part of Logan Blvd is a prime candidate for speed cameras. The quicker, the better.

James BlackHeron said:

I don't see the conflicts you are describing as anywhere near as dangerous or life-threatening as riding on the blvd where the outer lanes are not nearly wide enough to accommodation auto traffic and bicyclists at the same time and the cars are travelling at extra-legal speeds of 40+MPH.

Then there is the perhaps-legitimate anger that motorists feel when there is a bicyclist blocking their way and creating traffic-flow issues when there is a whole service drive built just a few feet away that bikes should probably be taking. I don't have an issue moving along at around 14MPH on my city bike or 18-20MPH on my road bike down the service drive here. The pavement is glass-smooth (unlike many other blvd's like Kedzie to the south) and I unashamedly Idaho-stop through all the controls.

IMHO, my life is too precious to take the more-dangerous blvd -I see many more life-threatening conflicts with fast-moving cages compared to the occasional ped or dog-walker on the service drives.

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Permalink Reply by Don on September 4, 2012 at 1:29pm

Regarding wider roads...I also own a car, so I'm not completely anti-car. But we've had 60 years or so of roads on steroids in this area and all we have to show for it is more congestion. Did widening Cicero Ave. make getting through Six Corners easier? No but it was arguably one of the factors that killed its commercial appeal off. Was it worth destroying neighborhoods and cutting others off just so we could have expressways that are backed up about 15 hours per day? I guess it made flight to the burbs easier.

It's time to realize that widening roads doesn't stop congestion, and narrowing roads doesn't make it that much worse. I mean NYC closed off Times Square to vehicles and it hasn't been carmegeddon like some predicted. Now they're turning 34th street into bus/bike/pedestrian only and drivers will adjust.

Bike Bloke - we're all complaining about how nobody obeys the speed limit, so why is it a problem that the Church got a traffic calming device? I'm a veteran of dealing with my alderman on getting traffic calming devices (speed bumps and better stop signs) installed in the side streets of my neighborhood because drivers fly down the side streets and there are little kids running around. Which goes back to the whole road widening thing...funny how drivers always want wider and more car-friendly roads, unless it comes to their neighborhood. Then it's all NIMBY, what about the kids, etc?

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 4, 2012 at 1:46pm

The so-called "calming" device in front of that church does very little to slow down cars but did make it very hard to ride over on a bicycle. They did tear it out and put a new one in soon after -most probably because it was so hard to ride over with a bicycle. The second iteration is much improved.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on September 4, 2012 at 2:42pm

Before all of this technology, about 50 years ago, my father used to stand outside our house on the northwest side and yell at the cars flying down the side streets to "SLOW DOWN!!!!!".

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 4, 2012 at 2:45pm

I remember that guy! He used to say, "Get off my lawn," too -right?

;) We need more folks like your dad.

Lisa Curcio said:

Before all of this technology, about 50 years ago, my father used to stand outside our house on the northwest side and yell at the cars flying down the side streets to "SLOW DOWN!!!!!".

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on September 4, 2012 at 3:06pm

If you haven't already met him, you'd really like h'.

Lisa Curcio said:

Before all of this technology, about 50 years ago, my father used to stand outside our house on the northwest side and yell at the cars flying down the side streets to "SLOW DOWN!!!!!".

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Permalink Reply by Matt Tennessen on September 4, 2012 at 4:15pm

Lisa Curcio said:

Before all of this technology, about 50 years ago, my father used to stand outside our house on the northwest side and yell at the cars flying down the side streets to "SLOW DOWN!!!!!".

Even with all this technology, I stand outside my house on the northwest side and yell at the cars flying down the side streets to "SLOW DOWN!"

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Permalink Reply by Don on September 4, 2012 at 4:44pm

I used to (northwest sider as well), but it's as pointless as the cyclist I saw a couple weeks ago waiting at a light on Milwaukee yelling "Stop blowing lights! You're giving us a bad name!" at the group of cyclists going through the red. It's a losing battle.

Matt Tennessen said:

Lisa Curcio said:
Before all of this technology, about 50 years ago, my father used to stand outside our house on the northwest side and yell at the cars flying down the side streets to "SLOW DOWN!!!!!".

Even with all this technology, I stand outside my house on the northwest side and yell at the cars flying down the side streets to "SLOW DOWN!"

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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on September 4, 2012 at 5:06pm

But polite humor can help. The guy who nearly doored me today at least said "sorry, I didn't see you". I said "that's okay, its not like I was wearing bright orange"... in fact, I looked a little like a Construction Cone in my bright Orange Semi-Reflective Shirt...he smiled a little and said, I guess I need to start being more careful. One driver at a time is sometimes all we can do.

And yes, I do yell at Bicycles on Milwaukee that blow through lights that they are making it hard on all of us.