 |
Bicycling!A
service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Transit and Parking
Committee and the HPKCC website, www.hydepark.org |
Transit home. Walkable Communities.
|
Bicycling!A
service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Transit and Parking
Committee and the HPKCC website, www.hydepark.org |
Transit home. Walkable Communities.
See
bicycling links in Transit Links
and Resources. The Chicago Sun-Times is distributing current
maps.
About, progress report on the
South Lakefront Access Study.
To get on a listserve for South Side Bicycling Movement and others, visit
http://www.biketraffic.org.
www.biketraffic.org/2010/,
www.ChicagoBikes.org,
www.bikechicago.org
(Same as www.bikechicago.us)
Bike
Chicago events calendar (city's
site > Special Events- scroll down), 312 744-2964; www.bikechicago2003.org
(still valid address in 2004)
Federal Manual of Standards for trails, "facs", etc. go to
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/
More
links below announcements. Note: For CATS/Regional
Planning Board either the old www.catsmpo.com
or www.rpbchicago.org
can be used and Soles
and Spokes.
PACE and CTA: nearly all buses have racks. Bikes are welcome on METRA Burlington and UP Northwest only and only at certain times. More about bikes on METRA: http://metrarail.com/Special_Promotions/bikes_on_trains.html.
At the HPKCC public discussion Oct. 2005, What's Right What's Wrong with HPK, specific mention was made of problems with bikes on sidewalks.
Let's all remember that specific right-of-ways may have dedicated parts or lanes, but the global object is to successfully and respectfully share the public's mobility and the public right-of-way. Intermodalism is the word.
May 17, Saturday- "Monsters of the Midway" Midway Criterion velo bike race around the Midway. Visit http://ucvc.uchicago.edu/monsters.html.
May 24, Sunday morning. Bike the Drive. http://www.bikethedrive.org.
Monday early evenings Washington Park Running Club holds 3 to 5 mile runs open and free to the public from 51st and King Dr. Corina at cshusheim@yahoo.com.
MAJOR TAYLOR TRAIL RIDE - AUG. annually
Explore the newly opened Major Taylor Trail on Chicago's Southwest Side.
Join in the unity and fun. The 20-mile ride begins at 9 a.m. It starts
and finishes at Dan Ryan Woods at 83rd Street and Western Avenue. Cost
is $15. Sign up at
http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track
&j=156491844&u=1527479
<http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=trac
k&j=156491844&u=1527480> or contact Keith Holt at
keith@biketraffic.org <mailto:keith@biketraffic.org> . We will ride rain
or shine. No day-of-event registration.
Blackstone Bicycle Works of the Experimental Station teaches bicycle smarts and teaches how to use bikes in a sustainable lifestyle. Including for winter. At 6100 S. Blackstone. 773 241-5458.
Bicycling Ambassadors-- will visit community events, festivals, park, schools to teach bicycling safety. 313 744-8147, www.bicyclingambassadors.org.
Note: For CATS/Regional Planning Board either the old www.catsmpo.com or www.rpbchicago.org can be used and Soles and Spokes.
|
bike enthusiasts |
|
| Chicago Dept. of Transportation | Includes new maps and routes |
| CDOT bike plan, | |
| or, or, bikechicago2003.org | |
| Chicagoland Bicycle Federation (312 42-PEDAL) | Key organization |
| Chicago Bikeriders.com | Clubs, chat rooms, ride/race schedules, resources |
| League of Illinois Bicyclists | |
| Chicagoland Bicycle Map | Maps--order/download |
| BikeIllinois | |
| Selected Bicycling Links in Chicago | An amazing set of links... worth the visit |
| Bicycle Transportation Notes: Additional Resources | Planning, laws, and more |
| Ride and Race Schedules, Shops | |
| Model Laws | |
| Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center | Research organization |
| Cycling Advocacy Sites | |
| Chicago Area Transportation Study-Soles and Spokes | Research, resources, funding advocacy, planning and coordination. Works with Ch. Bicycle Fed. |
More :http://www.BikeWinter.org
(CBF events page)
Major Morgan Bike group (South Side rides, incl. late August): http://chicagomajortaylor.org/
http://www.dot.il.gov/bikemap/statebicycleplan.html
(state bicycle plan)
research info on bikeability conditions, curb ramps etc.: http://www.solesandspokes.com/current_home.html,
http://www.dot.il.gov/blr/manuals/cl2004-18.pdf
National Center fo Bicycling and Walking. Centerline newsletter. http://www.activeliving.org.
More at the Soles and Spokes site.
See also the site of Mary
Rose Shaughnessy, http://shaughnessy.us/biketrails.htm
Additional walkability sites:
| Chicago Area Transportation Study | |
| Walkable Communities, Inc. | http://www.walkable.org |
| Center for Livable Communities | http://www.lgc.org/center/index.html |
| Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center | http://www.walkinginfo.org and http://www.bicyclinginfo.org |
| Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals | http://www.apbp.org |
| STPP's Mean Streets Reports | http://www.transact.org |
| America Walks | http://www.americawalks.org |
| Institute of Transportation Engineers | http://www.ite.org/traffic/index.html |
| Walk to School Day | http://www.walktoscThe
SECC also has 20 copies of a "pithy and useful book", "City
Comforts. How to Build An Urban Village." This book discusses basic
urban design and planning principles. Contact Irene Sherr. Cost is $13.50.hool.org Current Chicago city: http://www.ChicagoWalks.org |
| City Comforts | http://www.citycomforts.org |
| Sierra Club's Community Transportation Examples | http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/community/transformations/index.asp |
News from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
Dan Korman is the contact person. dan@biketraffic.org, 312 427-3325 x224.
The Federation has a major push on to make drivers more aware of what they can do to be saver for bicyclists--some drastic ways of getting on some drivers' radar may be tried.
The Federation is working with national organizations and boards to push a Compete streets agenda. Chicago endorsed it- all streets are to be able to accommodate all modes, including cyclists and those crossing on foot. The National Center for Bicycling Walking is pushing this and has a newsletter called Centerline. http://www.activeliving.org.
Friends of the Parks, the Architecture Foundation and others will have a display up January 25-March 10 on completing and making accessible the last 4 miles of t he lakefront at t he Archicenter, 224 S. Michigan.
The federation is working with the National Safe Routes to School Task Force. http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/task_force/task_force_members.cfm. SRTSC@tooledesign.com.
Complete Street: The regional planning agency's Soles and Spokes division sent out notice of the following City of Chicago notification of policy on total accommodation on the public way:
The City of Chicago released a landmark Complete Streets Policy Oct. 10, mandating for the first time that all transportation users must be accommodated in all transportation projects. According to a multi-agency document issued by the city, the policy is expected to be implemented in a variety of ways advocated by Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and its Healthy Streets Campaign. The policy calls for pedestrian improvements like bulb-out curb extensions for crosswalks, countdown crossing signals, median refuges, and re-timing signals to minimize pedestrian delay and conflicts. To read more, visit
www.biketraffic.org/content.php?id=1024_0_16_0_C.
Local bike enthusiasts such as Rev. Jorge Montes ask more streets have dedicated lanes and designated trails. But several of these such as 55th Street have already been considered--including by the Bicycle Federation, the city Transportation bike section, and regional planning Soles and Spokes--and ruled too dangerous given curves (University Condominiums) and tendency of cars to use them as a speedway. This writer and others specifically testified for alternatives to 55th and Lake Park as bike trails. However, east of Hyde Park Blvd. it has bike lanes. Some think that streets that are really too narrow for two lanes of traffic and really have a lane and a half would benefit from laning, if the parked cars opening doors could be managed. Most Hyde Park streets are in fact too narrow period, especially when they use buses (Woodlawn). Kenwood streets might be more suitable.
Members of the Disabilities Task Force see bicyclists, especially on walks and at viaducts, intersections and making turns and with no warning devices as posing the greater hazard, including along the Lakefront trail. See maps below to see where the trails currently go through our area.
Herald, November 8, 2006. Rev. Jorge Montes
Biking in Hyde Park has become very dangerous for m any bikers and some percentage of them have been hit or injured by careless drivers. Or drivers just don't see the bikers. As you know the university students and others are trying to use more environmentally-friendly vehicles and Hyde Park is a great place to ride. And since in some respects this is "Hyde No-Park," it is a good thing to support alternative options.
We suggest that bike paths be made available on streets such as Hyde Park Boulevard; 47th, 51st, and 53rd Streets; and Garfield Boulevard from Lake Shore Drive to Washington Park. These bike paths will give to Hyde Park a unique place for neighborhood families to enjoy our community and for other people who might otherwise drive automobiles around the neighborhood.
[Note: in association,
a study commissioned by CDOT has been done about the needs of lakefront access
from the South Loop to the Indiana border. Mile-signs are in place on the Lakefront
Trail. CDOT received permission for a new sign system with route names and destinations
matching existing, install begun in 2005 in Phase IV Streets for Cycling. Also,
CP District has contracted for detailed design for kiosks along entire lakefront
that were or were supposed to be installed 2004-05. Also done, 47th Overpass,
Funded: 35th, 41st, 47th, 57th Drive, Cornell/Plaisance underpass and Lakefront
Connector (part funding), temp. corrections 67th/71st, various improvements
71st to 104th; wayfinding.
Details see South Lakefront Access
Page.]
Chicago Tribune/RedEye May 24, 2004
When work is completed, Chicago will have an 18-mile path along the lakefront that bicyclists and inline skaters can better share with pedestrians. But there are still a few detours on the way to such recreational harmony.
Twenty [?] percent of the Lakefront Trail work is scheduled to be completed by Memorial day, and there will continue to be temporary portions along the northern end until work is done.
Thanks to a city project
to rebuild South Lake Shore Drive, there are four new underpasses linking the
lakefront to Jackson Park.
The Chicago Park District is rebuilding the path, which runs from Foster Avenue
to the South Shore cultural Center, 7058 South Shore Drive. The upgrade work
on the path, parts of which date to the 1920s, began five years ago.
It is making the path a consistent 14-feet wide [21' where soft-surface jogging lanes run on either side] for its full length, rather than a patchwork of asphalt trails, with space dedicated to pedestrians. All asphalt, the path will be painted with yellow and white divider lines separating north- and southbound traffic like a street. Three-foot rubber surfaces on each side will accommodate pedestrians and joggers.
Park District spokeswoman Lisa Arrizi says the path--new and old--is open during reconstruction. "In some cases, the trail will actually be closer to the lake," Arrizi said. And that's the best news because there's no firm date for completion. "It's been a tough budget year, but we are dedicated to finishing it," Arrizi says.
The park district doesn't say what the upgrades will cost, with funds for the project coming out of its capital budget, which also covers things such as skate parks and lagoon improvements, she says.
"They have consulted and continue to consult with us on most things involving the lakefront trail, such as design, routing and detours," says Randy Warren, program director for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, a local non-profit bicycle advocacy organization with which the park district [and CDOT and CATS] in developing the new trail. "Things can always get better, but we are very pleased with the direction our relationship is heading."
Unfortunately, Warren says, "the Lakefront Trail has become a victim of its own success. During warm weather the trail becomes so crowded it becomes potentially unsafe to use."
Five new underpasses near the Museum of Science and Industry campus will open beginning Memorial Day weekend: at 57th, 59th and 63rd Streets and Marquette Road. (The opening of the additional underpass at 57th Street is scheduled for 2005.
The underpasses lead into [the main body of] Jackson Park, which was the site of the 1892 [sic] World's Columbian Exposition, and each underpass is decorated in a style reminiscent of that.
Hyde Park Herald, June 9, 2994. By Mike Stevens
Jackson Park's four new pedestrian underpasses opened last week dramatically improving lakefront access for the neighborhood.
The widely-arched concrete tunnels at 57th, 59th and 63rd Streets and Marquette Drive are among the final elements of the 4-year, $162 million reconstruction of South Lake Shore Drive.
"This was not a patch and repair job. this as a complete rebuilding of the roads [and] the infrastructure as well as pedestrian access," 5th Ward Ald. Leslie Hairston said.
In the 90s, community leaders, including Hairston, proposed the underpasses to replace the run-down pedestrian bridges at 57th and 63rd Streets using North Side underpasses as a model, Hairston said. "You don't know what you're missing unless you know what's out there," said Hairston, who continues to scout other neighborhoods for potential improvements.
Work continues on the 57th Drive underpass which connects the Museum of Science and Industry's (MSI) campus and nearby parking lots to the lakefront. The 57th Drive underpass opening has been delayed by construction of the MSI's new underground exhibit space for the U-505 submarine.
While crowds celebrated the underpass openings last weekend with bands and activities, others complained that Oakland's aging pedestrian bridges at 34th and 45rd streets appear in worse shape than Jackson Park's long-demolished bridges, which the underpasses replace. "It's a shame that he city would neglect that area," Oakland resident James Fitzhugh said.
While it might be years off, the city plans to replace Oakland's two bridges as well as build a new bridge at 41st Street, Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Steele said. Steele expects to announce finalists for a design concept competition later this summer. After finalists are chosen CDOT will look to secure funding for the project, Steele said.
A connector to other sections to the city bike trail, along the north side of Marquette Drive from Coast Guard (Lake Shore Drive) underpass to Stony Island, nears completion.
Major upgrades are built into revetment-and-park-reconstruction/expansion in Burnham Park especially between 29th and 51st over the next few years.
In the 39th/Oakwood Dr. area 15 acres have been set aside as park space with benches for passersby. Expected completion in August.
The section between Fullerton an Diversey is a bumpy detour. Scheduled completion end of summer.
Trail has been finished in the Belmont Harbor area- it goes closer to the harbor.
What's the progress south of 71st to the Indiana line?
The fold-up poster map is being distributed. Automatically to those on the CATS mailing list. If you are not on the list or don't receive in (this is March 16, 2004) e-mail tmurtha@catsmpo.com.
From CDOT News Bike 2010
Edition, Spring, 2003 [This issue deals with bike network, street comparability,
and promotion. Next: bike parking, transit access, couriers, safety education,
enforcement.
www.biketraffic.org/2010/,
www.ChicagoBikes.org.
Chicago Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic, 30 N. LaSalle Street,
Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60602, 312 427-3325 X 35.
Comment on the Plan to CDOT . To view the plan, navigate from www.sp2030.com
Make Chicago "The City That Bikes"
We are in the middle of developing Chicago's Bike 2010 Plan. There are two goals:
1) Boost trips made by
bike-Especially short trips like errands and children riding to school.
2) Reduce bicycle crashes- Combat the most common causes of bicyclist injury
and endangerment.
[We gathered public suggestions,] asked the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation to research the "best practices"; ...now we need more input from you:
Draft Recommendations
Bike Network: Proposals to expand the network of on-and-off street bikeways to support a safe and convenient bicycling environment.
Bike Lanes
Current Streets for Cycling Plan of lanes as a citywide net, identify another 100-200 miles of lanes and innovative bikeways including boulevards. Every citizen within 4-6 blocks of the network by 2010.
Pilot bike-and-bus lanes.
Enhance quality maintenance of bikeways.
Bike Routes
Complete signage stressing connections, destinations, safest and most direct routes.
Retrofit open grate bridges.
Upgrade markings and signs on streets too narrow for lanes.
Install signs "bikes allowed use of full lane".
Bike information kiosks at critical junctures.
Bike Trails
Implement Chicago Trail Plan and South Lakefront Access Plan on a priority basis.
"Share the Trail" Lakefront partnered safety campaign
Trails as part of developments to meet city standards.
Complete priority missing network links including North Branch, Des Plaines River, Centennial, Burnham Greenway.
Innovative Bikeway Designs
Pilot raised lanes with curb separation
Test colored pavement at problem intersections.
Pilot three bicycle boulevards.
Pilot advanced stop bars (bike boxes) at 5 high volume intersections .
Pilot bike traffic light phases.
Marketing and Promotion: persuade more to try bicycling more often
Broad-based marketing (Bike Chicago, frequent Bike to Work, Commuter Challenges, cycling group rides and events, "Share the Road" ads, Mayor Daley's Bicycling Ambassadors.
Targeting special populations , neighborhoods (target three)
Targeting specific trips (Recreation-3, Shop by Bike, Safe Routes to School instruction, Safe Routes to High School...Colleges and Universities, Bike to Work incentives, Bikes on the Job--esp. by city departments, Useful Bikes and trailers.
Health Promotion including a controlled study. Start closing streets regularly on Sundays, including long destination routes tied to festivals/events in parks and a "Sunday Cycling" program. Tie the effort also to health institutions, parks kids programming, Chicago Works Out.
Tourism including having rental bikes and bike touring info available. A velodrome? Bike Chicago, Bike the Drive.
Street Compatibility
Traffic Calming (specifically for cycling and ensuring other calming fully accommodates bicyclists)
Pilot 3-5 "home zones" (play streets) on local streets with lots of families.
Make bikeways a routine consideration component required in planning projects. To include lanes, bike parking , bike sensitive traffic calming, bike-sensing signal tripping, friendly calming/cul de sacs.
Other steps in progress or done:
The 100th mile
of bike lands was supposedly in use by early 2004.
Adding 750 bike racks for a total 8,400
Identifying future off-street
paths including multi-trail loops
South Lakefront Accesses Study--50 priority projects.
Navy Pier Flyover
Millennium Park Bike Station (parking, showers, lockers, rental and repair,
cafe)
North Shore Channel under bridge, Damen North Branch bridge
Bike parking in 3 CTA rail stations in addition to 21 current
Maps--Kids on Bikes booklet, Website
monitors and prepares Regional Transportation Plan proposals for bike and pedestrian projects and networks under the program names
Regional Planning Board, the official regional planning recommending body, has recently released preliminary CMAQ proposal rankings. (Link may be changed.) These are projects to be built next year and are in a public comment period. Questions 312 793-3477. Metra upgrade/Grayline has received high marks for reducing congestion and pollution. Note, such funding is in trouble in Congress.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center has recently updated its "frequently asked questions" and has posted a report, "Growing Demand for safe Walking and Bicycling" (in pdf).
2. WEB RESOURCES. The following
resources are available to provide
more information for those interested in further involvement in project,
corridor, and strategic studies and implementation.
a. Context Sensitive Solutions
(IDOT).
http://www.dot.il.gov/css/home.html
b. Soles and Spokes Pedestrian
and Bicycle Plan for Chicago Area
Transportation (CATS): http://www.solesandspokes.com.
c. Brown Line Capacity
Expansion Project (Chicago Transit Authority):
http://www.transitchicago.com/news/motion/brown/ravenswood/
d. Kingery Expressway Reconstruction
Project (I-80/94):
http://www.dot.il.gov/kingery/
e. Cook-DuPage Multimodal
Corridor Study (RTA):
http://www.dot.il.gov/kingery/.
f. Wikaduke SRA Study: http://www.wikaduketrail.net
g. Caton Farm – Bruce
Road SRA Study:
http://www.cfb-study.com/index.html
Following is the
2003 map, which is much more readable. Difference:
Trail is now designated north of the Midway from the Dorchester trail, jogging
east to Blackstone thence northbound on Blackstone to 56th thence east to Lake
Park/Stony Island and southbound from 57th on Dorchester to link up to the trail
south of the Midway.
Included is the Lakefront
Trail from just south of the Stevenson to South Shore.
See a street traffic directional flow map and a map more clear in street location and labeling in Neighborhood Maps.
Existing lane: orange enclosed
in heavier blue. Proposed (currently route only) encl. in lighter blue
Recommended bike routes: orange
Existing off-street trails:
solid blue. Proposed: dashed blue.
Hyde Park Cycle shops: In Harper Court north of 53rd, (not shown on the map!) Art's Cycle on 55th east of Cornell, Blackstone Bicycle Works in trailer? at 61st.
Bike-ped-auto interface danger and issues. To get on listserve, info etc. randy@biketraffic.org.
General tips
Be seen and communicate, avoid injury
Theft prevention:
Sharing the road
The door zone (3-4 feet along left side of a parked car)
Sharing the off-street trail
Bikes on Transit
Welcome except rush hour
(7-9 am, 4-6 pm). cal 1-800-YOUR-CTA or visit www.transitchicago.com
PACE and CTA have racks on all buses (2 fit). www.pacebus.com.
Metra: only BN an UP North.
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is preparing a campaign for all to drive and ride with care.
Complaints? Drivers go first--cars are a lot bigger! (Cyclists claim they cause far fewer accidents or deaths.) But drivers point to the unexpected speeding, red-light dissing, unstopping, weaving cyclist--sometimes even going the wrong direction. And say that bicyclists are far less likely to be stopped or get a ticket.
5 cyclists were killed in 2005 but far more were injured--and if they don't go to the hospital, it's not reported.
Top 5 complaints from drivers(informal lists)
Top 5 from cyclists
The bicycle fed says the biggest problem is speeding in residential areas. When auto speed gets above 30 the chances of fatality become overwhelming. It wants speed humps, red-light cameras.
Drivers say too many cyclists get too close or in their blind spots--really dangerous if a car starts to turn.
Robert Wernis says bikers deserve some blame,too. He points to weaving in and out of traffic, not following the rules of the road and safety, especially at night.
The city is cracking down on drivers that park, drive or stand in bike lanes, just as they targeted bikes in Lakeview last summer.
From the League of American Bicyclists website: Bikes:
Going green bike collection for working bikes. Learn about next year's collection at www.workingbikes.org. Chase bank.
Or bring it to Blackstone Bicycle Works, 6100 S. Blackstone. Donated bikes help fund educational programming including the earn-a-bike prorgram, mechanical skill training and entrpreneurial training for area youth.Tuesday through Friday 2-5 pm Saturday 12-5 pm. 773 241-5458. www.experimentalstation.org.