Wells Street bridge closing for one year

It starts in December:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/13758202-418/wells-street-bridge-resto...

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on October 31, 2012 at 5:56am

All things considered, State might be the less stressful option.  For one thing, it is wider.  I wonder how the traffic counts compare between Clark and State.  My "gut reaction" would be that people heading to the Loop would be more likely to be traveling on Clark or LaSalle than on State and that State would have less traffic.  Of course, this is speculation and based upon nothing!
 
Mark said:

The State St. bridge is concrete, but watch for the metal grid in the middle of the lanes on the south side of the bridge.  My favorite bridge is Wabash.  It is all concrete.  Kinzie intersects with State, but not Wabash.

Permalink Reply by Michelle S on October 31, 2012 at 6:10am

IDOT daily traffic counts show you're right, Lisa, that Clark has about 27% higher MV volume than State where they cross the river. The detour route of Clark has two and a half times the motor vehicle volume as Wells.

4900 Wells

16800 LaSalle

12700 Clark

13100 Dearborn

10000 State

7000 Wabash (I extrapolated that number - no counts right near the river)

37900 Michigan

http://www.dot.state.il.us/maps/statistical.htm


 
Lisa Curcio said:

All things considered, State might be the less stressful option.  For one thing, it is wider.  I wonder how the traffic counts compare between Clark and State.  My "gut reaction" would be that people heading to the Loop would be more likely to be traveling on Clark or LaSalle than on State and that State would have less traffic.  Of course, this is speculation and based upon nothing!
 
Mark said:

The State St. bridge is concrete, but watch for the metal grid in the middle of the lanes on the south side of the bridge.  My favorite bridge is Wabash.  It is all concrete.  Kinzie intersects with State, but not Wabash.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on October 31, 2012 at 6:51am

Thanks for confirming my gut, Michelle;-)!   Sometimes knowing the area is almost as good as having statistics, I guess.

I will say that before I started bike commuting my husband drove on Clark from Ohio every day to drop me off at the Daley Center.  We noticed that traffic between 7:30 and 7:45 was a lot lighter than after 7:45 and especially a lot lighter than after 8:00, so maybe it won't be so bad early.  (Could not figure out how to get to hourly counts on the web site.)

Guess I will be experimenting.


 Michelle Stenzel said:

IDOT daily traffic counts show you're right, Lisa, that Clark has about 27% higher MV volume than State where they cross the river. The detour route of Clark has two and a half times the motor vehicle volume as Wells.

4900 Wells

16800 LaSalle

12700 Clark

13100 Dearborn

10000 State

7000 Wabash (I extrapolated that number - no counts right near the river)

37900 Michigan

http://www.dot.state.il.us/maps/statistical.htm


 

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on October 31, 2012 at 7:01am

I figured it out:

State between 7-8 a.m. 511 and 8-9 a.m. 589

Clark between 7-8 a.m. 947 and 8-9 a.m. 1224

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 31, 2012 at 7:35am

interesting. The Michigan and LaSalle numbers don't surprise me at all. I'm not surprised that Clark is so much higher than Wells either, since Clark has more high density destinations and a lot of bus and cab traffic.


Michelle Stenzel said:

IDOT daily traffic counts show you're right, Lisa, that Clark has about 27% higher MV volume than State where they cross the river. The detour route of Clark has two and a half times the motor vehicle volume as Wells.

4900 Wells

16800 LaSalle

12700 Clark

13100 Dearborn

10000 State

7000 Wabash (I extrapolated that number - no counts right near the river)

37900 Michigan

http://www.dot.state.il.us/maps/statistical.htm

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on October 31, 2012 at 8:04am

But almost double the number of vehicles in the earlier hour and more than double in the 8-9 time frame!

Better chance of gaps?  Or does fewer vehicles translate to faster traffic?


 Cameron Puetz said:

State has a lot less traffic, but more of it is bus a cab traffic, so the curb lane can be chaotic.

Lisa Curcio said:

I figured it out:

State between 7-8 a.m. 511 and 8-9 a.m. 589

Clark between 7-8 a.m. 947 and 8-9 a.m. 1224

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on October 31, 2012 at 11:10am

Michelle -- We'd have to agree, it's not a great option. Generally, there still aren't great options for biking anywhere in the Loop, and yes it's frustrating when a project like this reduces those options further. We had hoped Dearborn would have been completed before this project started, and we've made it clear to the City how important it is to complete the protected bike lane on Dearborn soon. We still hope CDOT can complete it before the end of this year -- with Wells closed, it's that much more important to have a north-south protected bike lane through the Loop.

- Lee Crandell, Active Trans


Michelle Stenzel said:

I appreciate the information, Ethan and Lee, but then after we cross the river, then what? Clark is much, much worse than Wells. I don't think taking Wacker Drive back west to Wells is a great option either: Drivers speed like absolute maniacs on Wacker.

Permalink Reply by JeffB on November 1, 2012 at 10:23am

It seems like it was relatively simple for CDOT to install the plates on the Clark St bridge.  How about pushing for them to install them on all grated bridges, not just those being used as a detour route?

Active Transportation Alliance said:

Michelle -- We'd have to agree, it's not a great option. Generally, there still aren't great options for biking anywhere in the Loop, and yes it's frustrating when a project like this reduces those options further. We had hoped Dearborn would have been completed before this project started, and we've made it clear to the City how important it is to complete the protected bike lane on Dearborn soon. We still hope CDOT can complete it before the end of this year -- with Wells closed, it's that much more important to have a north-south protected bike lane through the Loop.

- Lee Crandell, Active Trans


Michelle Stenzel said:

I appreciate the information, Ethan and Lee, but then after we cross the river, then what? Clark is much, much worse than Wells. I don't think taking Wacker Drive back west to Wells is a great option either: Drivers speed like absolute maniacs on Wacker.

Permalink Reply by blair on November 1, 2012 at 10:55am

JeffB - I agree!  I'd like to see all bridges plated before any more bike lanes are started.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on November 2, 2012 at 8:07am

I'll be a broken record. 

25 miles for 25 bridges.

Permalink Reply by Nathan Hoks on November 2, 2012 at 8:28am

State Street's okay -- it has the grids, but they're filled with concrete. 

Lisa Curcio said:

Not having ridden on anything else going south from Kinzie, are there any bridges that are not open grate?  The article says bicycles can go south on Clark, but I cannot remember what the bridge deck is made of.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on November 2, 2012 at 8:35am

It will not be easy.  Not only are cyclists being rerouted but the vehicle traffic that normally takes Wells is also rerouted.  I will likely take Clark as it passes right by my workplace. It will be congested. However, by the time I reach the bridge I will go slowly and carefully as I am throtelling down my internal engine as I near the end of my ride. The real question is where the bestplace would be to turn from Wells eastbound. Illinois? Hubbard? Kinzie? We will see.

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