Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom Z on March 18, 2016 at 4:44am

Um... There is a North/Northwest Side to the city.  Especially the Northwest Side!

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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on March 18, 2016 at 4:52am

Definitely. At this point, there weren't any North meetings on the calendar so I didn't have anything to post. 

I'm guessing (hoping) the city is now trying to address previously underserved parts of the city by targeting these areas. We could still use more bike lanes on the Northside so hopefully in the near future there will also be meetings for those as well.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 18, 2016 at 6:59am

My understanding is that this is EXACTLY the point of this round of outreach - addressing underserved areas of the south and west sides. Some of those areas lack ANY reasonably safe places to ride between neighborhoods.

I was told that the major goal of the south side outreach is safer access to Pullman and Big Marsh Park.  A lot of folks feel challenging to find a safe route from 95th St. red line station to Pullman and/or Big Marsh, or a safe route from the lake to Big Marsh.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on March 19, 2016 at 6:04am

Yes! and with the announcement that Whole Foods is moving a distribution center to Pullman, safe routes to get there on a bike are even more urgent.

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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on March 19, 2016 at 7:39am

Thanks Anne, I was hoping you'd see this and comment. I really hope this means we'll finally start addressing the needs of the South and West sides. 

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 19, 2016 at 3:33pm

One important missing piece right now is safe access to/from the 95th St. red line station. That's an important piece of safe access to Pullman and Big Marsh.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy L. Fagin on March 18, 2016 at 4:04pm

I would like to see a bike lane on Chicago Avenue, from the lake front all the way to Oak Park.  The Ashland/Chicago business area has lost many businesses over the decades (Goldblatts, Woolworth's) as market and shopping habits have changed - a bike lane would slow down traffic and encourage people to stop instead of speeding by.  Also, a Chicago Avenue bike lane would feed into the hospital district east of Michigan Avenue; Chicago Avenue also has a wide income range and it shouldn't stop here or there but be a major thoroughfare for everyone.  The street is certainly wide enough to handle a bike lane in both directions.  Also Chicago Avenue connects with the blue, red and brown lines, something Augusta does not.   

Augusta Blvd. basically stops at Milwaukee and the length of it needs more maintaince.  Once we had kids throwing bottles at us- somehow bicyclists were seen as a threat.

NLF

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Evans on March 20, 2016 at 11:06pm

Chicago Avenue has a lot of traffic, and is congested downtown. Instead, they should put a bike lane on Grand Avenue all the way to the city limits (Harlem). Grand already has a bike lane downtown. Plus, it's considered 'bike friendly' farther west (west of Noble) because of lower traffic volume and wideness of the street, so it'd be easier to put a bike lane on Grand.

On Augusta, they should finish repaving the street from Kostner to Central Park (they already fixed the areas around Central and Cicero, so this is the last part that needs to be done). With a refurbished Augusta, those from the west could take Augusta to Grand, and those from the east could take Augusta to Noble, then south to Grand, with no need to take the overburdened Milwaukee.

The bike lanes on Chicago Avenue in Oak Park are a joke. The street is way too narrow, and full of cars. Feeding bikes into that street with bike lanes on Chicago Avenue in Chicago would be a mistake. Whereas Augusta doesn't have those problems. Augusta is the better bike route, and should be improved.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 21, 2016 at 3:21am

Another plus for Augusta - no buses.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy L. Fagin on March 21, 2016 at 3:41am

Granted, I would love a bike lane on Grand instead of stop-start-stop on Hubbard, but again, we're talking population that needs service and also connections.  Augusta doesn't have "el" stops.  Grand bike lane is sort of twisty - where Grand becomes oneway at Wells and everyone has to turn south (taking the Grand Avenue bus on these twists and turns can be a fun ride).  Grand, west of Ashland, the foot traffic drops down considerably and currently there is little commercial (small shops, bakeries, etc.) between Ashland and Western.  Though, the amount of new building is rising. 

Also, there should be more signage/access to the Metra stop at Hubbard/Grand/Western.  Frequently people stop me and ask where the station is - absolutely no signage.  Once I wrote/called the Divvy folks about putting a station at the station and all I got was a very unpolite "NO". Yep, Just the single word.

I have my stock in a warehouse building at Hubbard and Western, so I either bike down Hubbard everyday or walk with the darn dogs down Grand or several side streets.  I have a photo of my older half brother (ca. 1948) and his friends tee-pee some trees - all the houses behind them are now gone and new single family houses stand in their place.  Anyhow, I am seeing the changes daily and the lack of some services by hoofing the pavement.

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Permalink Reply by Derrick James on April 7, 2016 at 2:50pm

Fellow South Siders, please spread the word about these meetings.  The more voices we have pressing for improvements to our cycling infrastructure, the more likely we'll realize our vision of greater livability for our under-appreciated communities. 

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Permalink Reply by john89 on April 7, 2016 at 9:24pm

Thanks for sharing with us .

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