afe Bike Route Suggestions from The Loop to Maywood (Oak Park)

I just moved back to Chicago from Los Angeles and am living in The Loop (State and Roosevelt) but work in Maywood (a little south and west of Oak Park). I was commuting everyday in LA and was hoping to continue to commute 2-3 days a week since this trip is considerably longer than my last. I was hoping someone had experience traveling this route and had tips for the best streets to take.  I've heard mention of Lake st and North Ave. but want some more opinions on the matter. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on April 26, 2017 at 3:22am
Permalink Reply by Caroline Szujewski on April 26, 2017 at 4:44am

Thanks! Do you have experience through any of these routes, particularly the loop streets, and did you feel personally safe while riding through them?

Permalink Reply by ad on April 26, 2017 at 4:08am

I live in Oak Park and commute in, and the link provided definitely covers all the popular routes to and from the loop. 

One issue you'll face once you get west of Chicago and Oak Park is crossing the Des Plaines River when heading into Maywood.   I'd suggest crossing on Washington Blvd., as both Madison and Roosevelt are pretty busy on those stretches. 

One route to consider is taking Jackson west through Oak Park (which has a bike lane for most of the stretch), then turning right on Circle Ave. once you get into Forest Park and taking that north for 5 blocks or so, then turning left onto Washington and continuing on that across the river and into Maywood.  Another option is connecting with the Illinois Prairie Path, which starts in Forest Park (near corner of Jackson and Des Plaines Ave.) and runs through Maywood, though it takes a bit of explanation on how to pick it up in Forest Park and can be confusing the first few times.    

If you're already on Lake, you can continue to take that west as well to get through OP (traffic can be a bit heavy in the rush periods through OP) and continue heading west to cross the river; but Lake starts to take you farther and farther northwest from Maywood as you continue riding west. 

Permalink Reply by Caroline Szujewski on April 26, 2017 at 4:42am

Ok great, thank you. This was really helpful, especially the advice for how to get to Maywood. What is your route to commute and do you feel safe while riding on it? By safe I mean safeish neighborhoods more so than traffic wise. 

I sometimes come from Wicker Park/Bucktown area so was thinking of taking Armitage west, but I would also like to find a safe route west from the loop. I have been told that Lawndale and Garfield Park are not the best neighborhoods and those are the neighborhoods that most of those recommended paths go through. The link doesn't say much on safety of neighborhoods, do you have any personal experience going through Madison, Washington, Lake, Harrison etc?

Permalink Reply by ad on April 26, 2017 at 5:43am

I'm not personally as familiar with the Northside routes in and out given where I live, but I know a lot of people ride Augusta vs. Armitage, as the traffic is better and Armitage isn't any safer neighborhood-wise. 

I ride Washington from Oak Park to the Loop in the morning, and I ride Lake from the Loop to Oak Park in the evening.  Safety of a neighborhood is obviously a very relative/personal thing, but I have personally never felt "unsafe" riding that route.  I always ride by myself in the morning, and ride home solo on Lake about 50% of the time (and meet up with a group of commuters the other 50%). 

There's no skirting around the fact that Garfield Park and Austin do have crime issues, with probably the hot spots for crime falling between Central Park Ave. and Laramie.  Given that you're on a bike and riding through (I assume) at times where there are a lot of people out and about, I'm hesitant to describe any of the routes as dangerous/unsafe, and though there have been a handful of issues involving cyclists over the years (probably no greater than what's also happened on the Northside TBH), I think it's fair to say no one is actively targeting cyclists on those routes.  

Lake is a pretty industrial strip, and if you take that route (which may be a good idea to start until you become familiar with the areas), there aren't many people around in the first place.  I actually flatted out last night on Lake, and literally four solo cyclists stopped to ask me if I needed help, so it is a well-traveled commuting route, and people feel safe enough to do it alone.  

I'm not familiar enough with LA to compare, but I'd say if you generally felt pretty safe riding through the majority of neighborhoods there, you'll feel ok doing the commute west.  That said, there are people who will tell you you're crazy for doing it, though if you ask most of those people will tell you they never have been west of Central Park outside of driving on the Interstate.     

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 17, 2017 at 3:16am

once you hit Oak Park.  Taking Ridgeland south is very laid back, or East Ave. 

East Ave. is really nice - light traffic, no bus route. At Chicago Ave., the street is interrupted by Oak Park-River Forest High School, but you can cut through on the sidewalk. 

Permalink Reply by Shawn Evans on April 27, 2017 at 12:32am

I live in Forest Park and travel through Chicago to get to work, so I know most of these streets.

Safety-wise, I've never had any problems on Washington. But Washington does have a lot of stoplights east of Western, so Harrison may better closer to the Loop.

Washington goes west of Harlem Ave and then appears to stop. But, if you don't mind riding down multi unit bldg driveways and parking lots, you can keep going all the way to the Prairie Path. Just ride down the driveway, go around the next building, keep going west, thru another stretch of Washington, then thru 2 parking lots, down Vine St in River Forest to where that ends, then south to Madison, west across the railroad tracks, take a left onto Van Buren, south to where it turns east, then a right into the parking lot. Go west thru the cemetery to the bridge, cross First Ave and you'll be at the Prairie Path. The path goes east/west thru Maywood. If you want to go north/south, a good road to take is 5th Avenue (no stoplight to cross the Expressway). If you take Jackson, you have to go up a hill, watch out for buses entering/exiting the transit station, and get around all that traffic on Desplaines traveling to/from the Expressway. Ugh!

Lake is okay thru Chicago, but it has a lot of stoplights thru Oak Park. Better to take South Boulevard/North Boulevard or Randolph St east/west thru Oak Park.

From Wicker Park, take the 606 to Lawndale. You can take Hamlin south to Lake as previously mentioned, but I go around. Lawndale-LeMoyne-Karlov-Hirsch-Keeler-Haddon-Kolmar-Augusta. You can continue on Augusta, but I go further south. Lavergne-Chicago-Leclaire-Huron-Superior-Ridgeland-Erie-Linden-Lake-Euclid-South-Circle-Randolph.

Note: Washington is the same street in Chicago, Oak Park and Forest Park. But River Forest and Maywood call Randolph 'Washington Blvd'. Boy, does that confuse the delivery people! They're always getting lost.

Anyway, another route west is 606-Lawndale-Wabansia (wrong way for 3/8 of a mile)-Kostner-Grand-Cicero-Bloomingdale, but it has a hill near Mobile.

Also: No lights on Washington blvd (Randolph) over the Desplaines River, so that's very dark at night. Best to cross the river on the Prairie Path bridge or use Lake St or Madison.

Permalink Reply by Allan on May 13, 2017 at 12:53pm

I looked this over on Google Maps, and that looks like a really great way to get to the east end of the Prairie Path from Oak Park! I've used parking lots and alleys as shortcuts when biking, occasionally. Particularly when you're biking north on Ravenswood where it dead ends between Cornelia and Addison, and I shortcutted through a former liquor store parking lot(which you enter to the right, when Ravenswood dead ends) to get over to Lincoln.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 17, 2017 at 3:15am

But Washington does have a lot of stoplights east of Western, so Harrison may better closer to the Loop.

I agree. You just have to watch out for vehicles blocking the bike lane near the main post office (just west of the Chicago River).

Permalink Reply by Maurice on May 17, 2017 at 4:42am

blocking the bike lane near the main post office

 

All day, every weekday, even though there are lots of legal spaces and a free parking lot. The city could make a fortune if it ever tried to write tickets at these predictable locations.

Permalink Reply by Allan on May 13, 2017 at 12:23pm

I've never tried biking from Chicago west to Oak Park and points beyond,  but maybe I'll try this one of these days. Thanks for posting all those route ideas, I will look into trying biking these routes.

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 17, 2017 at 2:41am

Semi-on-topic: I'm staying near Garfield Park for a couple nights this week. Rode Warren eastbound this morning. A great route. It's a shame what happens between the highway and Canal--a real gap in that "spoke."

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