Walter’s Perspective: Washington Street Bike Plan Could Create Gridlock

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Permalink Reply by Louis K on February 24, 2013 at 8:56pm

I saw that and I was quite annoyed by it.  Everyone seems to freak out whenever someone does something that does not make it easier for people to drive alone in their cars.  Buses carry 47 percent of commuters who commute in vehicles on this proposed route.  My guess is drivers driving alone in their cars make up less than 10% of the commuters on this route, less if you include bikes and pedestrians.  It is about time someone started to look at the real numbers and not just cave in to anyone with a car.  Thank you mayor Emanuel.

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on February 24, 2013 at 9:23pm

Walter Jacobson is 76 years old. I do not believe that Mr. Jacobson is representative of the average Loop denizen

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 24, 2013 at 9:29pm

This is such a heavy bus route and bus traffic is so slow at rush hour. It will be a huge improvement for the thousands of people using these bus routes.  The real numbers of who will benefit MUST be considered.

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Permalink Reply by prof.gfr on February 24, 2013 at 11:07pm

I'd be more concerned about Walter's perspective having some sway if his grammar and syntax were better. What a poorly written piece of junk. Was this a verbatim transcript of the way he speaks? Even so, it reflects more on his awkward phrasing than on the validity of his argument, which is vague at best.  FWIW, I agree with prior posters here - better bus lanes on Washington maximizes the utility of this corridor and improves the commute for more people due to the higher "people mover" density of buses.     

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on February 25, 2013 at 6:27am

+1  I did not even know that Skippy was still around.  He has not gotten better with age.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

Walter Jacobson is 76 years old. I do not believe that Mr. Jacobson is representative of the average Loop denizen

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 25, 2013 at 6:54am

+2 And that also goes for his dubious driving history.

Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

+1  I did not even know that Skippy was still around.  He has not gotten better with age.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

Walter Jacobson is 76 years old. I do not believe that Mr. Jacobson is representative of the average Loop denizen

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Permalink Reply by David P. on February 25, 2013 at 8:18am

Shocker! Change in street design may lead to change in traffic patterns. Who knew?

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Permalink Reply by BruceBikes on February 25, 2013 at 8:47am

For those who don't care to click through, here's the copy that was posted with the video.  (I can only hope it was transcribed by machine.)

Walter’s Perspective: Washington Street Bike Plan Could Create Gridlock
February 21, 2013 10:01 PM

(CBS) — When the bad weather goes away and better weather comes and I’m riding my bike downtown, I’ll think, ‘Thank you, Mr. Mayor of Chicago,’ for being a bike-rider kind of guy who’s providing a bike lane downtown on Washington Street at Daley Plaza.

I can’t wait for the pedal, but I’m worried about the jam.

The mayor’s plan for Washington Street is to make space for bikes and buses by reducing these five lanes to just two. All the cars in line the right, waiting to turn, will force the moving traffic into one lane.

You sure, sir, you want to do that? Jam up the Loop, inconvenience people in cars for who knows how long, create a gridlock of the world?

It’s OK to dream, as you say you do, of making Chicago the biking capitol of the world. But before you actually do it, your honor, please wake up.

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