If I were to ride west from Belmont/Halsted to Armitage/Rockwell today, which streets should I avoid? Which are great? I'm pretty new to this bike-as-primary-transportation things and anything west of Southport is pretty unfamiliar to me. But it's reasonable weather today and the CTA planner is giving me a trip of a nearly an hour to go four miles. I think I'd rather bike, but that part of the city is not my usual stomping grounds.

The internet suggests: Halsted to Wellington to Southport to Webster to Damen to Armitage. Opinions? Thanks so much.

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I would avoid Webster - between Southport and Ashland it's nothing but potholes and buckled pavement. Plus the bridge has an open grate deck.

I'd do something similar to Jeff on a weekend, except on a weekday I'm more likely to take Halsted South down to Armitage, then do a little jog south at Racine to get on Cortland going west.     I tend to avoid going through Finkls on weekdays, though that's more superstition than actual truck fear.

I'm actually not a big fan of Dan's route if you're just going to Rockwell.  The river crossing at Diversey is annoying, the left turn onto Logan isn't pleasant, and the Logan-Western crossing has a well-deserved reputation as one of the worst intersections in the city.  He's right about Logan Blvd being very scenic after Western, but since you're turning on Rockwell you won't be on it long enough for that to matter.

Damen and Logan don't cross. The river gets in the way.
Rockwell from Logan doesn't go all the way to Armitage. Stops at Milwaukee.
dan brown said:

I would go west on Belmont, South on Damen, then West on Logan Boulevard (2600 N).

Then when you are at Rockwell (2600 W) just go south 6 blocks to Armitage. Avoid Western

for sure.

 

Logan Blvd is not only scenic; but there are no trucks allowed (all Blvds. are supposed to be truck free) and no CTA busses.

 

Dan

Thanks, everyone! I did Southport to Cortland to Damen to Armitage and it was pretty easy. The road surface on Southport is pretty rough, but the route was direct without any tricky intersections. The shared bus/bike lane on Cortland was a little disconcerting, but no big deal. I appreciate the input.

ooops. my bad. my memory is failing me again.

thanks michael

Michael J Blane said:

Damen and Logan don't cross. The river gets in the way.
Rockwell from Logan doesn't go all the way to Armitage. Stops at Milwaukee.
dan brown said:

I would go west on Belmont, South on Damen, then West on Logan Boulevard (2600 N).

Then when you are at Rockwell (2600 W) just go south 6 blocks to Armitage. Avoid Western

for sure.

 

Logan Blvd is not only scenic; but there are no trucks allowed (all Blvds. are supposed to be truck free) and no CTA busses.

 

Dan

I used to do that route all the time when I worked on Belmont and lived off Damen & Armitage.

I would have taken Barry (great side street East bound) to Damen to Armitage. 

SOuthport is a great ave for biking. It's got bike lanes the entire way I believe (between Clark and Elston)...Going west though I would say Wellington or Armitage should work...Webster is pretty torn up in some places and I do not believe there is a bike lane there...Who knows about Armitage and Wellington.

An option to avoid Yuppies pulling out from Starbucks in their SUVs with 2 kids and chocolate labs on Southport would be Greenview.

Wellington is one-way eastbound for a lot of the way between Ashland and Lincoln/Southport, with a few blocks of two-way traffic.

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