Citizen vs City on the Bike Lane

This morning I was meeting some people for work at the McDonalds at 6100 N. Milwaukee.  This is at the "other" intersection of Milwaukee and Elston on the far northwest side of the city.  As we're sitting, a Water Management sewer evactor truck parks out front in the bike lane.

This is a really bad place to park in a bike lane because riders and drivers are coming around a curve at this point.  A rider is forced into the "car lane", and a speeding car coming around the curve might not react in time.

The three in the evactor startled and took off when they saw me snapping pictures.  I drove to our worksite, but returned to the same intersection ten minutes later, where there were three Streets and Sanitation garbage trucks lined up in the spot of the bike lane, eating their McD's.

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Permalink Reply by Barry Aldridge on March 23, 2013 at 3:48am

City workers do it because they know they won't get tickets and most of them are idiot cousins of "somebody" so they know they can't get in trouble. They probably drove away because they didn't want you taking pictures of them smoking crack on the job.

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on March 23, 2013 at 8:14am

My take away from all this is that there is a privilege to working for the city that private sector people don't have.  I'm sure lots of civilian dunderheads also park in the lane too, but I'll bet that most would guiltily back off if they were reminded that they were endangering bikers.   It just got to me that day that a city employee who knows he's wrongly in the lane would confront a citizen so aggressively.  He knows he won't get a ticket and he knows he's going to park there again tomorrow.

Permalink Reply by David P. on March 23, 2013 at 12:02pm

Juan,

Did you get vehicle unit numbers (S***** on the refuse trucks, probably WD***R on the Vactor) or plates for any of the trucks? You used to have a photo up that showed the unit number of one of the refuse trucks, but it doesn't seem to be there any more.

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on March 23, 2013 at 2:26pm

David:  The only number I can see on the Water Mgt truck is 1790.  The garbage truck photo is in the second post of this thread.  I wish I got the number of the truck that the yelling guy drove.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on March 24, 2013 at 11:14am

+1! We moan and complain when all cyclists get painted with the same brush, and yet here are are doing the same thing with City workers. Thanks Daniel.

If we want to be treated fairly, we need to treat others fairly.


Daniel G said:

I don't at all like this stereotype of City of Chicago employees. When we see city workers blocking bike lanes, we need to approach them like human beings on different sides of a misunderstanding. Most don't know any better, some are lazy, some cannot imagine where else they would stick their big-ass truck. Give automatic disrespect and hostility, and expect the exact same in return, because city workers are human beings who deal with confrontation exactly how we do.

Barry Aldridge said:

City workers do it because they know they won't get tickets and most of them are idiot cousins of "somebody" so they know they can't get in trouble. They probably drove away because they didn't want you taking pictures of them smoking crack on the job.

Permalink Reply by Tom Z on March 24, 2013 at 3:33pm

I agree also, not every city worker does things like this. In fact, hope and believe most do the right thing.

I see all kinds of traffic parking in that space.  Maybe that would be a prime space to put some bollards to prevent these issues.

Permalink Reply by dan brown on March 25, 2013 at 3:16am

+1

Barry Aldridge said:

City workers do it because they know they won't get tickets and most of them are idiot cousins of "somebody" so they know they can't get in trouble. They probably drove away because they didn't want you taking pictures of them smoking crack on the job.

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on March 25, 2013 at 11:18am

The worker I encountered fit the stereotype to a T.  Maybe they are mostly loving caring souls, but this guy was exactly what cynics think of city employees.  Just like that fixie dood who blew the red light fulfills most people's thoughts of what cyclists are like.

Permalink Reply by Tom Z on March 27, 2013 at 3:05pm

I was walking by this evening... The sign is faded, but still readable. No Excuse!

Oh, BTW, there was all kinds of parking available in the parking lot...

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on April 29, 2013 at 3:58am

Today it was People's Gas.  I wasn't in a confrontational mood today so I just took pictures.

The truck number is 3708.

Not only is he in the bike lane but he's it a good portion of the right traffic lane.  If a cyclist was coming through, he or she'd be forced into the left half of the right traffic lane.  What a bad position to put a cyclist in.

Since my last try at being assertive was shouted down, I no longer feel obligated to confront the driver and crew of city or utility vehicles.  It's just insult to injury.

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on April 29, 2013 at 5:23am

I just drove (GASP!) by this area and I swear it looks like a legit place to park.  First of all, the "bike lane" is the same width as it would be for curbside parking, so I'm not convinced that it is a real bike lane right after the McD'd entrance.  Second, there is no way for any truck to park in the Mc'd lot, it is way too small to manuever anything larger than a van.  I see the No Parking sign in your pic, but that is obviously faded beyond recognition.  Also, the pics are deceiving, in one there is def room for car, in the other, it is narrowed and obviously a bike lane.

I am the LAST person to take a cagers side, but I just can't get upset about this certain bend of Milwaukee.  Correct me if im wrong, but I think I even noticed sharrows outside of the lane right at the bend.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on April 29, 2013 at 5:33am

But what about the sign on the post that says "Right Lane Bike Only"?
 
Apie 10.64 said:

I just drove (GASP!) by this area and I swear it looks like a legit place to park.  First of all, the "bike lane" is the same width as it would be for curbside parking, so I'm not convinced that it is a real bike lane right after the McD'd entrance.  Second, there is no way for any truck to park in the Mc'd lot, it is way too small to manuever anything larger than a van.  I see the No Parking sign in your pic, but that is obviously faded beyond recognition.  Also, the pics are deceiving, in one there is def room for car, in the other, it is narrowed and obviously a bike lane.

I am the LAST person to take a cagers side, but I just can't get upset about this certain bend of Milwaukee.  Correct me if im wrong, but I think I even noticed sharrows outside of the lane right at the bend.

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