Chicago's most dangerous streets for cycling?

  Hello Chainlinkers, I recently moved here to Chicago from a large east coast city between Philly and Boston with ample bike lanes and pedestrian plazas galore. This unnamed metropolis is known for it's aggressive driving, however most streets can accommodate bicycle traffic. Its seems here in Chicago traffic moves faster down narrower roadways and cars normally drive very close to the curb, leaving no room for a bike.

  My question for the fellow forum members is what streets should be avoided? It seems like the diagonals are pretty good for biking, Clybourne Milwaukee, Elston ect. But most of the main North-South or East to West streets are just too fast and don't have enough of a shoulder. Drivers squeeze past you way too close. Not sure if they are actively trying to kill me or just unable to move over a bit and pass at a safe distance. I try not to ride in the door zone. On a separate note cabbies generally do give me enough room when they pass. Any comments or insight?

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on January 24, 2014 at 9:49am

>  I once saw Randy Neufeld riding on Dempster and asked him what he was doing. He had a good answer, he was going to a particular store on Dempster and I saw him a couple blocks away.

One of my more tense experiences was missing the turnoff from a Forest Preserve trail on my way the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital one day. I wound up hitting Dempster at Lehigh and had to ride west on Dempster for about three miles during afternoon rush hour. Not. Fun. At. All.

Along with the other Chicago streets people mentioned as bad, I avoid Broadway whenever possible. At least in the Edgewater neighborhood, most drivers seem to treat it like an extension of Lakeshore Drive, and move along pretty quickly.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on January 24, 2014 at 9:55am

Except for the long dark viaduct just north of 18th St. and the long bridge/highway interchange between 24th and Archer, South Damen is good.  I wouldn't encourage anyone to ride that bridge - fast traffic, poor sightlines near top of bridge.  If you need to use the viaduct, I strongly recommend that you use lights and reflectors to be as visible as possible.  It's REALLY dark in there and drivers aren't looking for bikes.

Once you get south of 47th, Damen has bike lanes for most of the way. It's interrupted south of 87th, but you can pick up a segment of the Major Taylor Trail, then go west to pick it up again in North Beverly.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on January 24, 2014 at 9:56am

Oh yes.  I hate the "big broadway"  And of course, they goes right next to what may well be the absolute worst street not in downtown.   Sheridan Road from Hollywood through the Valley of Death up to the Evanston line.   That might be more dangerous than Irving Park, Ashland and Western thrown together....

Permalink Reply by Simon Phearson on January 24, 2014 at 9:56am

Cabbies downtown, in my experience, are still not as bad as the black-car livery drivers, the out-of-town plates, the people pulling out of parking garages, the people picking up/dropping off pedestrians in the bike lanes, etc. And then there's the buses - they've been the only vehicles I've had genuine close calls with on my downtown routes. (I forgive all the right hooks I get where the lane design gives drivers no obvious alternative, since I know to watch for them now).


Eli said:

But I only rarely go downtown, where it seems most of the cabbie horror stories I hear about take place, so maybe things are different there.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on January 24, 2014 at 10:10am


Yuk. that's a bad stretch. If that ever happens again continue on Lehigh north to Beckwith. It is essentially Church. Youcan take it west, past Golf Mill if  you know the turns just past Washington and can continue west to Parkside. That will take you south to the hospital. You will have added a mile but eased the stress on your heart. :-)
Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

One of my more tense experiences was missing the turnoff from a Forest Preserve trail on my way the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital one day. I wound up hitting Dempster at Lehigh and had to ride west on Dempster for about three miles during afternoon rush hour. Not. Fun. At. All.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on January 24, 2014 at 10:15am



Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:

Sheridan Road from Hollywood through the Valley of Death up to the Evanston line.   That might be more dangerous than Irving Park, Ashland and Western thrown together....

Despite lack of shoulders and obvious danger to any cyclist who dares ride on Sheridan, there are explicit "do not ride on the sidewalk" signs at various places. I'm pretty sure there is still on up at Ardmore, where LFT dumps out.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on January 24, 2014 at 10:26am

Jimmy,

Welcome to Chicago and the Chainlink.  As you may have figured out by now, asking a broad question like you did, does not give a lot of meaningful answers. Instead it becomes free-for-all complain fest. Reality is that Chicago is a big city, and most streets have good stretches and bad stretches.

What neighborhood do you live in? Where do you work? That kind of information can help you get better answers. Ask specific questions for routes and I can guarantee that members will respond with their experiences on what makes up a safe and comfortable route

Happy riding. Stay warm!

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on January 24, 2014 at 10:58am

+1  I've used Dave's suggested route on a few occasions and it works pretty well. Much better place to ride than that section of Dempster.

David Barish said:


Yuk. that's a bad stretch. If that ever happens again continue on Lehigh north to Beckwith. It is essentially Church. Youcan take it west, past Golf Mill if  you know the turns just past Washington and can continue west to Parkside. That will take you south to the hospital. You will have added a mile but eased the stress on your heart. :-)
Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

One of my more tense experiences was missing the turnoff from a Forest Preserve trail on my way the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital one day. I wound up hitting Dempster at Lehigh and had to ride west on Dempster for about three miles during afternoon rush hour. Not. Fun. At. All.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on January 24, 2014 at 11:19am
> Beckwith
Yes, I've used Beckwith/Church in the past, though not coming from that direction. Don't know why it didn't I occur to me on that particular occasion. I do recall being late for an appointment with a physical therapist, so the extra mile wouldn't have helped in that regard.
Permalink Reply by Chris Loyd on January 24, 2014 at 12:16pm

You're correct about the diagonals. They're usually the best for cycling with wide and/or protected bike lanes. Most north/south streets are ok to ride on, but the main ones to avoid are Ashland and Western. They are far too busy, and as you said, they drive super close to the cars parked on the side of the street. As far as east/west streets, almost all of them are ride-able. The eastern part of North Avenue can be pretty bad to ride on, as there are tons of businesses over there. Once you get past the on/off ramps for the expressway, its not so bad at all. Irving Park road can suck sometimes too, especially near Pulaski because that's where the on and off ramps are for the expressway. 

As far a cabbies go, that's just something that all cyclists in big cities have to deal with. You just have to be aware of what their going to do before they do it. I've had cabs cut right into the bike lane and stop to pick up a fare without even bothering to look behind them. Once I even had a cab driving right next to me on Lincoln Ave, a pedestrian flagged him and he merged right into me, pushing me closer and closer to the curb as I'm hitting his cab with my left hand in a fist. He still didn't stop and ended up pushing me against the curb and ultimately lost control and fell down. He got out of his cab and started yelling at ME! Its times like that I wish I carried one of those collapsing batons that police carry. 

Be safe out there in these mean streets. Get bright lights, front and rear. Maybe some of those small reflective stickers/rolls of reflective tape, and a bell or horn or something loud so drivers can hear you

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on January 24, 2014 at 12:29pm

Great response. I agree.

Duppie said:

Jimmy,

Welcome to Chicago and the Chainlink.  As you may have figured out by now, asking a broad question like you did, does not give a lot of meaningful answers. Instead it becomes free-for-all complain fest. Reality is that Chicago is a big city, and most streets have good stretches and bad stretches.

What neighborhood do you live in? Where do you work? That kind of information can help you get better answers. Ask specific questions for routes and I can guarantee that members will respond with their experiences on what makes up a safe and comfortable route

Happy riding. Stay warm!

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on January 24, 2014 at 5:09pm

Most cab drivers are professional drivers and understand that bikes belong on the roadway. Broadway is a dangerous street especially around Argle. Some of the worst drivers in the city can be found there.

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