What's this doing in the bike lane?

Share your pics, videos, streets, stories of what you find in the bike lane of the non-bike variety that has an impact on your ride and/or your safety. I've decided to keep it a little more open ended - cars, snow, buses, garbage, cabs, etc. If they shouldn't be in the bike lane, go ahead and add it to this thread. Please be safe if you are taking pics or video! :-) 

My hope is that we can collectively build some evidence of what we see when riding in the city with the overall hope of better enforcement of "bikes only" and improving maintenance. 

Update: More Hashtags to Capture Vehicles in the Bike Lane

With popular hashtags:
#BikeLaneShaming

#LaneSpreading (Chicago Bike Selling)

#ClearTheWay (ActiveTrans), there are many options to capture violations.

We think you should use ALL of them AND post your photos on The Chainlink. ;-)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 27, 2017 at 1:29pm

225 N Franklin St. 311 report submitted.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 28, 2017 at 4:34am

I rode on the bike lane on Dearborn this morning southbound from Kinzie to Adams. For the most part it was clear, but there were some dicey areas that required caution. The southbound lane was definitely in worse shape than the northbound lane. Luckily bike traffic was extremely light, so using the opposite lane at times wasn't a big deal.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 28, 2017 at 11:49am

225 N Franklin St. 311 reports submitted.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on January 3, 2018 at 12:06pm

225 N Franklin St. 311 reports submitted.

Permalink Reply by KrisP on January 5, 2018 at 7:09am

1050 W Hubbard

A report and a bit of a vent...

I rarely report vehicles in the bike lane, and I see several each day parked in the Hubbard and Kinzie bike lanes.  If the driver is in the car, I will say something like "not a parking spot" or "don't park in the bike lane" as I pass, but if the driver is obnoxious in their response, or if their car is parked to the right of the pylons marking a protected bike lane, I up my ante by stopping and asking them to move.  If they refuse to move, I have called the police in a few situations.

This morning, as I approached this car, I noticed the rear window was open a little and said "not a parking spot" as I passed.  I heard the driver yell obscenities at me as I continued along, so I pulled a safe u-turn and headed back to the car.  I told her to move or I would call 911.  I parked behind her car, and gave her another opportunity to move before I called the police.  She, of course, refused and told me that she was not doing anything illegal.

As I got out my phone, the driver continued in the same manner and told me to "move along" and "asked if I didn't have anything better to do".  My responses were to reply to the driver to "move along" herself, and "of course I have better things to do, but my safety and the safety of others is more important". The driver then began to yell again that she wasn't doing anything illegal and that she "has a lot of shit going on". 

Also yelled that I didn't know why she was parked in the bike lane because I didn't bother to ask. I guess I operate under the assumption that parking in the bike lane is not acceptable just because you have a lot of shit going on, and I don't need to ask for your reasoning, because a valid one does not exist.

I called 911 and began reporting the vehicle, and as I giving the dispatcher the address information, a police car slowly rolled by.  I flagged down the officer and explained the situation, informing him that I was also currently recording video/audio and had my interaction with the driver on video/audio as well. He told the driver to move along or he would issue a citation.

I did not feel that I needed to wait around, so I thanked the officer and continued my commute.  Within a minute or two, I hear the driver's voice scream something as she passes me.  A minute later, I silently passed her traffic-bound vehicle as I enjoyed the buffered bike lane on Kinzie.

Kudos to the police for stopping and getting the driver to move.

I hope the driver deals with all of the shit going in her her life, and maybe she will think about parking in the bike lane again (but I doubt it).

I don't claim to be a saint, but I watched my recording when I got into the office today and was surprised that I didn't swear or yell back at the driver.  I've acted less civil in other instances and rarely has it helped the situation. 

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Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on January 6, 2018 at 10:25am

Frankly, I'm shocked that the police showed up. I've called 911 several times, and have given up waiting after 10 minutes.

Permalink Reply by KrisP on January 6, 2018 at 11:56am

The police car happened to be rolling down the street already. Unrelated to the 911 call and a total happy coincidence. The officer did seem like it was an imposition to deal with the situation, but having a video/audio record of the incident and the interaction with the police seems to help. 

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on January 8, 2018 at 5:50am

Glad to see that! (the ticket, not the parking job)

I like that your front tire is peeking out at the bottom of the photo.

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on January 8, 2018 at 9:00am

This comment confused me at first, but now I get it: you had been biking northbound.

Do you bike on Dearborn south of Harrison? Seems like the entire PBL has been ripped up for months.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on January 8, 2018 at 12:04pm

225 N Franklin St. 311 report submitted.

Permalink Reply by Sean Newby on January 8, 2018 at 3:41pm

How about something a little different?

Long-standing pet peeve of mine is when Peoples Gas tears up parts of the street and thinks that a sloppy mound of un-compacted asphalt is an acceptable street repair. Usually these street cuts are located directly in, but not usually beyond the bike lane (shared or otherwise). This one was something else.

Peoples Gas had been working at 2868 N Lincoln last week, and the job was large enough to warrant lane shifts for both northbound and southbound traffic. When I went past there this morning the work appeared to be "completed" and Peoples Gas left the pictured moonscape as the repaired surface. To be clear the extent of the work is from the curb through the shared lane and then another couple of feet into the traffic lane. In other words, if there is any traffic on Lincoln you will be forced to ride over this substandard fill job.

Please keep in mind that this is not a very well lit stretch of Lincoln with almost non-existent lane markings. It would not surprise me to hear in the following week(s) that somebody was thrown from their bike because they hit this patch at speed, had no idea the asphalt was uneven and had no way to go around it.

My experience in the past has been that contacting Peoples Gas is unproductive at best, calling 311 does not make a difference, and complaining to the alderman is a pointless gesture if you are not a resident of their ward. Anybody have any suggestions on how this particular section can be properly repaired (short-term) and how we can get Peoples Gas to at the very least meet the city standards for restoring street cuts in the future?

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on January 10, 2018 at 10:37am

YES! I'm afraid I don't have any constructive suggestions on how to address this, but I agree it needs to be addressed. There are several of these along Elston - either a mountain or a crater.

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