Who cares for the LFT???

As a daily bike commuter on the lakefront path on and off for years, I've often felt insulted by how long serious life-threatening surface condition problems are allowed to persist.  It feels like despite tens of thousands of daily users, we're just those little cyclist people.  Meanwhile just a fence-width away on lakeshore drive such dangers would never be left to fester so.

This year in particular though the problems are so egregious and dangerous, some now months old, I felt something had to be said.

I've tried the 311 app for several problems such as a specific huge pothole, and a boulder on the path (too large for one person to move, a construction crew left it there), and gotten "the problem has been resolved" messages back a few days later, with nothing actually done.  The boulder one I even resubmitted, and got the same reply again, though it's still there.

I figured next step is contact the appropriate agency directly, but not sure who that is.

Can perhaps an Active Trans rep followup and pester the city on behalf of this lifetime members?

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Permalink Reply by Jared on March 21, 2016 at 7:00am

Well it is a lot closer to the water than LSD so the waves are going to impact it more.  Not sure if its built to the same standards as roads are.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 21, 2016 at 9:00am

I think that makes an enormous difference. The force of waves in a winter storm is capable of washing away or damaging stuff that's larger and more robust than this. It's nothing to sneeze at.

Permalink Reply by Andrew St. Paul on March 21, 2016 at 2:58pm

Gesundheit

Permalink Reply by blingy on March 21, 2016 at 9:21am

I more or less saw this breakup happen. Basically the waves were going way over the wall and as they slid back into the lake each wave left a thin layer of water which then froze so there was a very thick layer of ice there. Clearly water also got under the surface and when it expanded it popped the top layer off again (this happened last year too). There really is no material that is likely survive winter this close to the lake, it's time to call this section of the LFT what it is and that is just a buffer for LSD that people just happen to sometimes as a trail because there is nowhere else.

BTW, you aren't second class, you're non-class. The city does not care about cyclists and never has. Any time bike lanes are brought up in public you can bet they're just being used to deflect some other much larger travesty. I believe the last presser from the mayor about our great bike system was the day after Barbara Byrd-Bennett was indicted.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on March 21, 2016 at 2:22pm

I wonder this myself. As the asphalt lays flat there is no way for waves or wind to get underneath it.  As others have noted it must easily loosen in the cold water.

Permalink Reply by S on March 22, 2016 at 6:00am

The asphalt lays flat but there just needs to be a seam where the asphalt abuts concrete or some other material for water to get under the asphalt and then start freezing.   That portion of the LFT is pretty much exposed to a lot of waves in the winter and it's hard to see how they can avoid this in the future without building a seawall or adding more infill (e.g. about 20ms of land to buffer things) to block the waves.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on March 22, 2016 at 4:10pm

Thanks. I know lots of stuff but asphalt technology is outside my wheelhouse. Still not clear how the waves  could pull slabs up but someone will explain.

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on March 21, 2016 at 8:41am

I have used the Park District's contact form to report issues like fallen trees, broken or burned out lights and other concerns with mostly good results. 

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/contact/

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 21, 2016 at 8:58am

I'd recommend using this to put pressure on the park district.

Permalink Reply by Andrew St. Paul on March 21, 2016 at 5:16pm

nice to know

Permalink Reply by Waymond Smith on March 21, 2016 at 9:28am

The Park District is responsible for the lakefront trail. The problems that you mention in your post is a yearly occurrence and I don't understand why the Park District cannot come up with a better solution. 

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on March 21, 2016 at 2:24pm

I will say they did a very good job plowing this winter. I hit the trail at 6 am southbound from Lawrence and I saw them out at this hour both plowing and sanding. Two different trucks. They did pick up the loose rocks quickly after the storm recently. What they haven't done is resurfaced or picked up the light pole. 

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