18th Street Express Lane?

I was headed eastbound in the 18th Street divided bike lane just after 6p this evening.  Friday after-work car traffic was backed up from Clark Street almost to mid-span of the bridge over the river.  Several cars decided that they didnt need to wait, cut between the bollards and drove the remainder of the bridge in the bike lane in order to pass the stopped traffic.  Most turned right on Wentworth but at least one jammed its way to Clark.  Quite a spectacle.  I hadnt witnessed this before but Im usually there later in the day.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 17, 2012 at 3:40am

+1


Please keep us posted on whatever illegal traffic patterns you see there.

h' said:

Thanks for the report dj, good to know about that happening.  Do you head that way often enough to report in if you see that it's becoming a regular occurrence?

I thought the bollards were originally presented as a quasi-temporary "experimental" solution to serve in a sort of proof-of concept, with the promise of truly separated lanes if it turned out to be workable. Hopefully, whatever that permanent fixture may be will make it impossible for a motor vehicle to access.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 17, 2012 at 4:57am

+1

This should be a $10,000 fine for the first offense as far as I'm concerned.  Use the money raised to put up concrete barriers. 


h' said:

Thanks for the report dj, good to know about that happening.  Do you head that way often enough to report in if you see that it's becoming a regular occurrence?

I thought the bollards were originally presented as a quasi-temporary "experimental" solution to serve in a sort of proof-of concept, with the promise of truly separated lanes if it turned out to be workable. Hopefully, whatever that permanent fixture may be will make it impossible for a motor vehicle to access.

Permalink Reply by Tim S on March 17, 2012 at 5:02am

kind of makes me want to head down during Rush Hour and sit on my bike in the bike lane preventing this from going on.

Permalink Reply by ASH on March 17, 2012 at 10:17am

Im there! Lets patrol that shit! 

Tim S said:

kind of makes me want to head down during Rush Hour and sit on my bike in the bike lane preventing this from going on.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on March 17, 2012 at 10:19am

The westbound part of the street (between Wentworth and Stewart) is currently closed for bridge joint repair. This includes the westbound bike lane. The "westbound sidewalk" is completely open. The eastbound street and bike lane is completely open. I and others cycled westbound in the eastbound bike lane today. 

I have received several reports that people patronizing the white storage building on the west side of the river are parking their cars in the bike lane. If you have a photo, please send it along to me (and Alderman Solis!). 

The only way to make a "protected" bike lane really protected is with this. 

Tim: Do it. 

Tim S said:

kind of makes me want to head down during Rush Hour and sit on my bike in the bike lane preventing this from going on.

Permalink Reply by djm on March 17, 2012 at 10:57am

Its one of several commute routes but Im usually passing through there later.  I brought it up so we could crowdsource surveillance.

h' said:

Thanks for the report dj, good to know about that happening.  Do you head that way often enough to report in if you see that it's becoming a regular occurrence?

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 17, 2012 at 11:56am

FYI - unless there's been a change in the last several months, the westbound sidewalk lacks a curb cut at the west end of the bridge, at the intersection with Stewart.  It's a tall curb - good reason for caution if anyone does opt to use that sidewalk.

Steven Vance said:

The westbound part of the street (between Wentworth and Stewart) is currently closed for bridge joint repair. This includes the westbound bike lane. The "westbound sidewalk" is completely open. The eastbound street and bike lane is completely open. I and others cycled westbound in the eastbound bike lane today. 

I have received several reports that people patronizing the white storage building on the west side of the river are parking their cars in the bike lane. If you have a photo, please send it along to me (and Alderman Solis!). 

The only way to make a "protected" bike lane really protected is with this. 

Tim: Do it. 

Tim S said:

kind of makes me want to head down during Rush Hour and sit on my bike in the bike lane preventing this from going on.

Permalink Reply by Mark on March 17, 2012 at 1:52pm

I was riding west over the bridge last night around 9pm and saw a UPS truck driving westbound in the eastbound bike lane.

Permalink Reply by Freeman Whitney on March 17, 2012 at 4:54pm

The high curb was redone recently with a curb cut and is high no more. That used to be a beast.

Anne Alt said:

FYI - unless there's been a change in the last several months, the westbound sidewalk lacks a curb cut at the west end of the bridge, at the intersection with Stewart.  It's a tall curb - good reason for caution if anyone does opt to use that sidewalk.

Steven Vance said:

The westbound part of the street (between Wentworth and Stewart) is currently closed for bridge joint repair. This includes the westbound bike lane. The "westbound sidewalk" is completely open. The eastbound street and bike lane is completely open. I and others cycled westbound in the eastbound bike lane today. 

I have received several reports that people patronizing the white storage building on the west side of the river are parking their cars in the bike lane. If you have a photo, please send it along to me (and Alderman Solis!). 

The only way to make a "protected" bike lane really protected is with this. 

Tim: Do it. 

Tim S said:

kind of makes me want to head down during Rush Hour and sit on my bike in the bike lane preventing this from going on.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 18, 2012 at 12:51am

Good news!  Thanks for the update.

Freeman Whitney said:

The high curb was redone recently with a curb cut and is high no more. That used to be a beast.

Anne Alt said:

FYI - unless there's been a change in the last several months, the westbound sidewalk lacks a curb cut at the west end of the bridge, at the intersection with Stewart.  It's a tall curb - good reason for caution if anyone does opt to use that sidewalk.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on March 19, 2012 at 4:45am

I commute over the 18th St bridge and have not seen any motor vehicles parked or driving in the protected lane. But reports of such are not surprising given how wide the lane is and how far apart the bollards are.

Another problem on 18th is the fabric privacy screen attached to the chain link fence on the SW corner of Wentworth and 18th. Northbound Wentworth traffic can't see the bike lane until they are almost in the protected lane. The blind spot causes cars to edge out into the lane as they prepare to turn. Bikes are often moving pretty fast at that point as it is the bottom of a large (for Chicago) incline.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on March 26, 2012 at 4:15am

Yes - it seems pretty clear what eastbound cars should do as there are tons of signs with arrows diverting them to the westbound lane. But it is completely unclear what bikes should do, as the eastbound protected bike like is wide open and unsigned. One can take it, but at least as of this morning one had to walk over a joint that is getting repaired. 

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