"Protected" bike lane on Church Street in Evanston

Sorry, I don't have a picture, but there is a new "protected" bike lane on Church Street in Evanston.  Some of it is fine, but there is one stretch near Maple where they retained the parallel parking, but moved it away from the curb.  So you have: curb, bike lane, narrow painted buffer, parallel parked cars, traffic, center line.

I see two huge problems with this.  One, we have a hard enough time with bikies getting doored while passing parked cars on the left.  Does anyone think passengers are going to be more thoughtful when exiting their cars on the right (where there is usually a curb)?  Not to mention that people exiting said cars will have to navigate through bike traffic to reach the curb.  Two, what the heck happens when the bikie reaches an intersection and a moving car wants to turn right?  What are the chances that said driver won't even know the bikie is there because parked cars obscure her?

Am I completely missing something?

Skip Montanaro

wondering what's wrong with Evanston's "traffic engineering" department, in Evanston

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Permalink Reply by Jim Freeman on October 22, 2012 at 9:44am

Passenger side doorings are still a hazard, but better than the alternative.  I'm glad to hear that attention is being paid to Church Street. 

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on October 22, 2012 at 10:16am

Actually salmoning in this cycle track kind of makes sense until the Davis Street track is built.  You can move east with traffic in the travel lane on one-way Church or go west on Church in the cycle track.

If motorists fully understood that their cars were forming the protecting wall for any cycle track, I'd bet they wouldn't park there.  Sssssh!  Don't say anything.

Tricolor said:

I parked on Church Saturday night in one of the new spots.  A lot of cars were near/over the line into the 'door zone' because they want to be as far from moving traffic as possible, and while eating a late dinner I saw about six bikes using the lane, two going the wrong direction.  In practice it's a little wider than I thought, but not enough for riding side by side.

Permalink Reply by SkokieSurly on October 22, 2012 at 3:01pm

       I sympathize with both points of view - appreciative of municipal initiatives to provide biking infrastructure yet concerned about poor execution of good intentions.  I think the "protected" bike lane on Church street in Evanston is an example of a poor execution of a well intentioned idea.


       I rode in it briefly between Oak and Sherman and would describe it as a door zone gauntlet.  I think it presents additional hazards rather than reducing hazards - add the hazard of auto passenger side egress and ingress to their cars, additional hazard at intersections with blind right turns for cars, additional hazard with limited room for bike to pass other bikes or to pass pedestrians crossing the street or heading to stepping toward their cars- additional hazards of cars blocking the lane and limited alternatives to go around them - additional hazard for car drivers exiting their cars with narrower lanes for traffic- additional hazards for pedestrians for three crossing zones - bike lane - parking lane - traffic.

      I am an regular commuter on my bike and I am also a parent with young children.  I know how kids are in traffic.  I would be very nervous parking my car with my kids near this bike lane both for my kids and for the cyclists using the lane.


      While a protected bike lane is an appealing idea, it is not always the best option depending on the conditions.  I think in the case of Church St. in Evanston, and potentially Davis street, it is not the best approach.   I will avoid this bike lane both on my bicycle and my car - and with my kids.

      In sum, unfortunately, the protected bike lane on Church street can be described as a swing and a miss.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on October 22, 2012 at 8:31pm

For its efforts, Evanston has won a Silver Bike Friendly Community Award from the League of American Bicyclists. Chicago is also a Silver winner. Three other towns in Illinois (Naperville, Schaumburg & Urbana) won Bronze designations.

Permalink Reply by John Wirtz on October 23, 2012 at 2:04am

It's really too narrow for two cyclists side by side.  Salmoning here (and most places) isn't a good idea.

Thunder Snow said:

Actually salmoning in this cycle track kind of makes sense until the Davis Street track is built.  You can move east with traffic in the travel lane on one-way Church or go west on Church in the cycle track.

If motorists fully understood that their cars were forming the protecting wall for any cycle track, I'd bet they wouldn't park there.  Sssssh!  Don't say anything.

Tricolor said:

I parked on Church Saturday night in one of the new spots.  A lot of cars were near/over the line into the 'door zone' because they want to be as far from moving traffic as possible, and while eating a late dinner I saw about six bikes using the lane, two going the wrong direction.  In practice it's a little wider than I thought, but not enough for riding side by side.

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