Dreaded Bike-Unfriendly Streets

I have a few I can name that I do my best to avoid ever riding on and last weekend, when I was outside of my normal riding area, I realized my knowledge is pretty limited so I thought I'd post this in hopes to start an ongoing thread of streets that are pretty miserable for riding a bike. 

To get it started...

  • Ashland Ave. - No bike lanes, speeding cars
  • Michigan Ave. - No bike lanes, speeding cars, tourists, gaggles of buses
  • Western Ave.  - Ashland but with cowboy hats ;-)

The other thread... What Are Your Favorite Chicago-Area Bike Lanes, Paths & Routes?

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Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 13, 2017 at 12:16pm
Mentioned it right away - it is *all* of those east-west streets on the North Side where they cross the river, they are the worst.
Permalink Reply by Allan on May 13, 2017 at 12:58pm

Ah yeah, that's right you were referring to all those crossings over the river in general. Wilson seems to be one of the few exceptions that doesn't have tons of traffic going over that bridge, along with also Argyle. I love using Wilson, as an alternative to Montrose during times of heavy traffic. Though Montrose isn't too bad to bike on, during off peak periods.

BTW speaking of river crossings, wasn't there talk about building a new bridge that'd go over the river inbetween Addison and Belmont? I know it's long been planned to build the 'Bernie' bridge between Lincoln and Devon, though I have no idea when that'll ever start construction(sigh).

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 13, 2017 at 1:02pm
Aye on Wilson. Sunnyside is also a fave. The bridge is supposed to be started this year, it won't help with east-west crossings, but maybe it will help build momentum for a legit bike-ped bridge.
Permalink Reply by Allan on May 13, 2017 at 1:08pm

I've used Sunnyside too, as an alternate to Montrose for going east to west. Or vice versa. And for this year, you referring to the 'Bernie' bridge north of Lincoln I assume?

I hope that some bike/pedestrian only bridges could be built in a few places. The area where Roscoe dead ends by the Williams/WMS company headquarters and the path just west of the river that dead ends by Roscoe, would be a perfect point to build a bike/ped bridge over to that park west of Lane Tech.

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 15, 2017 at 4:09am

Mea culpa, they bumped the bridge back to 2018:

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160919/roscoe-village/bike-path-o...

And yes, a bike/ped crossing the River at Roscoe would have been eminently logical. So much so that it was included in an actual urban planning vision document. But the boat house supposedly prohibits it (I think that's b.s., but that's neither here nor there, unfortunately). Somewhere between Diversey and Belmont could still work, we'll see what happens when the Lathrop project kicks into high gear...

Permalink Reply by Paul Christianson on May 15, 2017 at 5:39am

Also would have been logical to widen Diversy to add bike lanes over the river and east to Clybourn as part of the Lathrop redevelopment but there are no plans to do so.

Permalink Reply by Allan on May 16, 2017 at 11:41am

Thanks for posting this update, on the Riverview Bridge project. I had explored the rear of California Park before(just south of Horner Park) last year one late night when I was bored, and I got that sense looking at the land that there'd probably be some way to construct a bike path like what is supposed to occur along the river.

I wonder when the work to fix up the eastern part of Horner Park by the river, will be complete? That's been fenced up, for like a year or 2 now.

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 18, 2017 at 3:36am

I think the work may be done but they are still waiting to ensure the new trees and plants are established enough to be erosion (and foot traffic) proof, and that invasives were thoroughly eradicated.

A comprehensive description of this "high priority budgetable mission" (I am stealing that description) is here: http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works-Projects/Horner-...

A slightly less wonky one is here: http://hornerpark.org/horner-park-riverfront-restoration/

They've done a great job, looking forward to checking it out at river level...

Permalink Reply by Mary T on May 18, 2017 at 2:43am

What street do you use to get over the river when you're on Sunnyside?  

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on May 18, 2017 at 3:38am

Wilson is great, if coming from the SW I usually cross at Montrose.

Permalink Reply by Nez on May 14, 2017 at 3:57am
I agree that Chicago road construction/sewer pair often includes tearing up bike lanes and patching them back up without regard to the vehicles that need to ride them. First, there is often no signage to warn cyclists of the new danger ahead during active work. Second, often a temp repair involves a stepoff that maybe a car could traverse but can still be dangerous to a bike. I suspect it's just another example where the City doesn't make their workers or a comtractor responsible for making it safe for bikes during the job and after it's done (at least til a permanent repair occurs, often years later).
I haven't been down Archer in awhile, but will be there today to visit mom. Thanks for the warning.
Permalink Reply by Sean Newby on May 15, 2017 at 5:57am

It certainly does not help that complaints to Aldermen, CDOT, and/or Active Trans pretty much get ignored.

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