Everyday Hell of NB Deaborn Bike Lane

The City really half-assed what could have been a great NB extension of the Dearborn PBL.

How many infractions can you spot?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXHEpfTAWQ0

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Permalink Reply by mike w. on May 2, 2019 at 8:57am

i think i lost count at about 12...

Especially enjoyed the "YO!... get the f--k off your f--king phone!" although i'm sure that driver had no clue what she was doing wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Gage B. on May 2, 2019 at 2:48pm

i think that whole stretch of dearborn is quite possibly the most stressful bike lane in the whole city.

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Permalink Reply by Ernesto Lube on May 3, 2019 at 3:17am

It is one of them. Makes me nervous riding it on a almost daily basis.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby Cobby on May 3, 2019 at 9:11am

At this point, I pretty much avoid it and use State St. one block east.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on May 4, 2019 at 8:53am

My bike mirror angles on the left, so having the bike lane on the left-hand side of a one-way street is enough to make it worthwhile avoiding.

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on May 7, 2019 at 5:27am

At least it's not as bad as the terminal west end of the Randolph street PBL. It's much much worse :P

BTW is there a thread on here somewhere as to why the west end is so crappy and just dumps riders off into highway bound traffic?

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Hutchinson on May 7, 2019 at 6:51am

Yup. Every day riding Dearborn NB during afternoon rush:

1. Dodge peds in the loop at every intersection.

2. Watch for left-turn on red arrow at Wacker, and get shoaled by a bunch of riders who jump the light and then go really slow up the bridge.

3. Avoid drivers pulling in/out of driveway across from House of Blues.

4. Watch for left-turn on red arrow at Kinzie.

5. Avoid left-hook at Hubbard (there's no arrows now...)

6. Avoid left hook at Grand.

7. Merge into car lane to avoid parked cars blocking bike lane at Post Office.

8. Navigate insane merge with left turning vehicles at Chicago who don't understand why you're not staying in the bike lane that they're all now suddenly driving in. (Oh, and avoid the UPS/Fed Ex trucks that like to park in the middle of the two lanes here, just to complicate the situation).

9. You made it! Now watch out for opening car doors since the bike lane no longer has a buffer zone.

10. The bike lane abruptly ends at Walton into oncoming traffic. (Don't worry, you probably won't make it this far anyways.)