I rode Dearborn today...anyone else?
I just missed the press conference and just hung out at lunch to see how it would all work. It seemed easy enough, so I took Dearborn as my starting route home to Roscoe Village. Normally I hit Franklin to Orleans then north to Lincoln.
I have to say, it was pretty easy and relatively safe. The ambassadors were helpful with the the auto traffic. The walkers were easy enough to avoid. I had to chuckle at two riders riding side by side in the lane.
What I didn't see was any oncoming traffic; southbound riders. I am guessing that will come in time or at other times during the day.
Way to go Mayor RE! This is really making a statement.
Who else rode the new path?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on
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I rode up Kinzie yesterday and still had snow in the lane.
Protected lanes are a waste of money, cars, delivery drivers ,cabs park in them, joggers run in them, 3-4+...days go by and still not completely clear.
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Permalink Reply by Jenn_5.5 mi on
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What was that about not shoveling into the lane?!?
Lindsay said:
Good Morning Lindsay,
We are happy to support the city’s efforts to encourage more sustainable commuting practices. Our standard practice for excess snow removal from the property is to have it immediately removed and hauled away to an offsite facility rather than piling snow along the curbs of the property making it difficult to access sidewalks from the street. This procedure to ensure the surrounding pedestrian areas of the building are clear come at a rather significant cost to our tenants. Unfortunately the excess snow you may have encountered in the bike lane may have been abandoned by the city as this is city property. I am happy to place a call with 311 to request the immediate removal.
Kind regards,
Heather Holderman
Property Manager
353 N. Clark Street, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60654
312/445-5200 main
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Btw.... Dearborn was the worst part of my commute home. Peds & slush. People were terribly more rude thsn normal. I had two people mouth off at me when I told them they were acting dangerous by being in the street. Ugh! Days like this I have my doubts about other humans having logical thoughts.
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Permalink Reply by David P. on
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Adam "I don't like to complain" Herstein, I'm going to challenge you to say something positive.
Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:So, they are basically saying "it wasn't us " and pointing the finger at Streets and San…
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on
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Jenn, did you send the photos to Ms. Holderman?
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Lisa. I will tomorrow. If you can't tell my typing skills on my smart phone don't exist.
I also got splashed by one of the two guys at the chase building shoveling into the pbl but stupidly didn't stop for the picture.
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Imagine the sarcasm floating through my brain after her response to Lindsay . . . But maybe that is not the best approach. ;-) Typing looked pretty good to me.
Jenn_5.5 mi said:Lisa. I will tomorrow. If you can't tell my typing skills on my smart phone don't exist.
I also got splashed by one of the two guys at the chase building shoveling into the pbl but stupidly didn't stop for the picture.
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I was thinking of the best way to approach it.
I would probably be rude tonight so it is best to think it over, but was thinking of mentioning the wonderful biking community and how well we share information etc. I am not well written. I am willing to take suggestions. ;-)
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This morning just before 8:00 the lanes behind 353 N. Clark were clear. Not sure if the building management cleared them because it looked like a plow had come along and pushed the snow back up on the sidewalk. ;-) There were two workers out shoveling snow into two big dumpsters.
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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on
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I hope they had some equipment to help them. I shoveled the little bit of slush that had fallen since yesterday afternoon. It was heavy, and I was doing my best not to lift it.
Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:There were two workers out shoveling snow into two big dumpsters.
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No--just two guys with shovels lifting it into the dumpsters!
Skip Montanaro 12mi said:I hope they had some equipment to help them. I shoveled the little bit of slush that had fallen since yesterday afternoon. It was heavy, and I was doing my best not to lift it.
Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:There were two workers out shoveling snow into two big dumpsters.
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I think that will be an ongoing problem. Normal bike lanes are accessible to snow plows and do not generally run right next to the curb. If a regular bike lane hasn't been fully cleared, it's likely that some of it has been or has at least been run over by cars, thus "plowing" a groove for bikes. And if not, you can (carefully) scoot out into traffic. Protected bike lanes are not only protected from cars and plows, but, as we have seen, are exposed to people shoveling sidewalks (who otherwise would have parked cars blocking the street adjacent to the curb). PBLs require special equipment to plow, and if the plows come too soon, the people shoveling the sidewalks will just undo the city's work.
The more I think about it, I'm not really surprised this is turning out to be a problem. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but maybe protected bike lanes will turn out to only be practical in snow-free climates. It appears that Minneapolis has a few protected bike lanes, which haven't been universally well-received:
http://journalmpls.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/bike-lane-backlash/
In any case, it looks like the issues of snow removal exist there as well:
http://mplsbike.org/blog/posts/protected-bike-lanes-in-chicago/
Cameron 7.5 mi said:On Monday I probably rode around 30 miles, and the protected lanes were the only places where snow was an issue.
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