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 26, 2018 at 12:32pm

670 W Harrison St. 311 reports submitted.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 26, 2018 at 12:35pm

550 W Harrison St. 311 report submitted.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 26, 2018 at 12:46pm

516/520 W Harrison St. 311 reports submitted. Whaaaaa? Is that a parking ticket I see on a windshield. Shocked, I tell you. Shocked!

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 26, 2018 at 12:51pm

404 W Harrison St. 311 reports submitted. Gee, slow day. Only 15 violators todays.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 28, 2018 at 1:00pm

402 S Desplaines St. 311 report submitted.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 28, 2018 at 1:09pm

671 W Harrison St. 311 reports submitted.

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 28, 2018 at 1:12pm

701 W Harrison St. 311 reports submitted.

Permalink Reply by S on December 29, 2018 at 8:12am

WTF?  There's literally work being done at that corner.  Where do you want the workers to park their trucks?  And it's not even a bike lane, it's a lane with sharrows! Do you also submit reports when the bike lane gets blocked so that it can get repaved or repainted?

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 29, 2018 at 9:38am

It is illegal to stop or park in a shared bike lane.

I dunno, maybe they can park their vehicles around the corner (with the 3rd vehicle) where it isn't illegal, or double park in the traffic lane.

Why is it the default decision with any construction project to block the bike lane?

Permalink Reply by Bruce on December 29, 2018 at 10:45am

It is a bike lane on Harrison. At the very corner the bike lane and the turning lane do merge, that's true. But as Argonne says, the trucks, especially the pickup truck, are really just parked there They could be parked in a legal spot around the corner. And as Argonne says, it's pretty much the "default"  for construction workers to park in the bike lane whenever they please. My question is, why do construction workers get carte blanche to park wherever the F they want just if the vehicle in question is not involved in the actual work?  If they are using a lift or  tools on the vehicle, or if the vehicle is actually an active PART of the work being done, then that would be different.  But most of the time the vehicle is just that: a means of transportation for the construction worker to get to the job. If I drive to work (which is about half a mile to the west of this spot) then I have to pay to park in a parking garage.  I then have to walk about three blocks worth to get to my building.  If I am only going there for five minutes to drop off some papers I have to do the same thing. Why should construction workers get  to park scot free in the bike lane whenever and wherever they damn please?

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on December 29, 2018 at 1:26pm

There are over 50,000 miles of streets in Chicago. There are just over 200 miles of bikes lanes. That's ~0.4% of the pavement dedicated to bikes. Is it really asking too much for the city to consider the impact of construction on the handful of dedicated bike lanes????? Are cyclists supposed to automatically take it in the a** when construction occurs on streets with bikes lanes? Can't the motorists  suck it up and accept a restriction? The city could easily mandate that the company set up a temporary bike lane, and force the vehicles to deal with a pinch point. But no, the default answer id to always force the bikes into traffic. We've had several fatalities this year in construction zones because the city has given priority to the vehicles. F*ck that sh*t.

Yes, I'm being a hardnosed a**hole. Too f*cking bad. I'm tired of hearing about how great the city is to bikers, and then flipping us the bird at every opportunity by prioritizing vehicles over cyclists. Cut the street down to one lane, and force the company to put a flagman at the pinch point. Traffic can take any number of parallel routes. This is one of only a handful dedicated East/West bike routes into the downtown area.

Permalink Reply by S on December 30, 2018 at 8:46am

You're not being a hardnosed asshole.  You're being an idiot.  Suppose they did what you wanted in this case and parked further in the street instead of the bike lane. They're working on a manhole or something  that blocks the "bike lane" at the intersection so cyclists can't use it to go through.  Now cyclists and cars are stuck using an alternate route or waiting in line to get flagged through. Currently,  cyclists can move over and take the lane for that stretch.  That's not any different from the current situation with a shared lane for bikes and cars. Your suggestion is a great example of cutting your nose off to spite your face.

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