Bicycling! A service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Transit and Parking Committee and the HPKCC website, www.hydepark.org Help support our work: Join the Conference! Join the Transit Task Force-contact chairman James Withrow.

Transit home. Accessibility Hot Topics. Walkable Communities/Complete Streets . Snow, Ice, streets, bikes- what can be done

• Bicycling events in the HPK/South Side Area.
• Conferences, meetings, demonstrations, updates, input sought etc.
• Some questions---
• University puts bike sharing, safety seminars in motion
• Links, sites of interest to cyclists
• Complete Street- the city's mandate for complete accommodation
• Local biking groups ask more streets have trails- but would they really improve safety? UC program-might it turn the tide to collaboration?
• About the Lakefront Bike Trail- and news and some remaining detours
• Coverage of the LSD opening and concerns about Oakland overpasses (More on grand opening)
• Chicago Bike 2010 Plan
• Regional Planning Board (ex CATS)/Soles and Spokes regional bicycling/trails planning and Congestion/Mitigation of Air Quality (CMAQ) bike and ped projects-info and comment sites. Soles and Spokes website.
• Map of bike trails in HPK and much of South Side, streets designated in HPK
• Tips for smart and safe biking and more on Bikes vs Cars. (Is anyone listening--bikes that whiz around the Point and its underpass and on sidewalks all over the neighborhood and sound no warning, drivers who don't take bikes into account.
• Bikes as green, recycle yours!
  

  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.
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bike.html

Chicago Bicycle Federation has changed its name to Active Transportation Alliance. http://www.activetrans.org. Rob Sadowsky Exec. Dir.

Be responsible on or off road or trail. Some clubs are not and are destroying parks, playgrounds, and nature sanctuaries, and hitting or driving people off the trail, including by riding on the sidewalk.

City of Chicago will offer 300 stations for bike rental, 1st 30 minutes free, by summer 2012 to promote bike riding to work et al.

Two new bike trails for Jackson Park will link Stony Island and the Lakefront trail: In progress Marquette Road, funded ? 59th corridor.
In addition, Stony Island from 67th to 75th (??) is being enhanced as a bike trail and made safer.

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.

On Cargocycles:
http://alwaysintransit.typepad.com/hyde_park_urbanist/2008/05/cargocycles.html

The University has started a bike share and bike teaching program in conjunction with Blackstone Bicycle Works. See below.

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. And it keeps coming up, along with lack of warning, id and safety equipment, speeding, and going the wrong way....

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 and Complete Streets are the words.

Biking/running events, demos in the area or events that might effect your ride

October 15 2011, Saturday, 2-4 pm. Jackson Park Advisory Council with Chicago Conservation Corps, Police and others holds a Bike Safety and Knowledge Clinic at the Iowa bldg. just south across 56th from Montgomery Place just west of Lake Shore Drive. Giveaways!

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.

There are major races in the area: U of C Criterion, Boulevard Lakefront Tour, The Late Ride; TriMasters, Bike the Drive. Also, the University organizes history bike rides into Bronzeville, Woodlawn et al.

Friends of the Parks "The L.A.T.E. Ride" benefit Saturday night-Sunday mornign July 10/11 2010. http://www.lateride.org. $40, $45- vols $20 an $25.

Conferences, meetings, demonstrations etc. Get on the listserves above.

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.

 

From the Older Women's League Summer Fest 2009

Principal speaker Maurine Schenburger of the City of Chicago pedestrian program described the many services and protections/rights of seeing impaired persons, including those (and other-impaired) with service animals.

She then dealt with the vexing problem of snow removal in sidewalks, crosswalks and curb and to-door access, and the responsibilities of both residents an business owners/operators. She read from printouts of the City ordinance on the same (available from the city) and a doorknob hanger that is also available including through the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce. (The latter, Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, OWL, and likely the Disabilities Task Force are gearing up to distribute these, get out the word on calling 311 (which has a code on snow removal) to get snow and clearance where access is blocked on public way, and police removal. A community meeting is also being considered.)

Ms. Schenburger also gave information and led discussion on bicycle safety- for bicyclists and for those they encounter, including on approved safety and warning gear. This is also likely to be a major focus in conjunction with University orientation et al of the named organizations this fall. At the August HPKCC board meeting, all emphasized that the approach has to be comprehensive- safety and thoughtfulness for all using the public way.

Go from here to report of January 2010 OWL meeting update- Snow, Ice, Streets, and Bikes or Getting Around, Does It Have to Be This Hard?

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Some questions from OWL's January 2010 meeting..

Is there a way to expand bike sharing beyond campus? (see next section)
Can Bike Ambassadors hold safety, rules, and manners sessions in the neighborhoods-- yes, they can be asked from their website.
What about people who insist on going the wrong way on streets and also on the sidewalk, often without notice or signal?
Is there any way to enforce or at least encourage bike registration, with visible numbers? (UCPC will do it for students)?
How many bike accidents are they, and how does this compare with auto, and are there any patterns? Ask Active Transp. Alliance (ATA)
Shouldn't festivals have bike racks?
A problem is people tying bikes to ples or old parking meters, but letting them be crossways over sidewalks or into streets.
Can a survey be done to see how much (more) bike parking is needed, esp. since most meters are now gone. ATA si looking into this.

University puts bike share, bike safety programs in motion

Chicago Maroon, October 9, 2009. By Stacey Kirkpatrick

In hopes of promoting environmentally conscious lifestyles, the University unveiled reCycle, a bicycle-sharing program that allows students, faculty, and staff to borrow bikes free of charge from one of four locations on campus. The program began O-Week with 20 bikes that were refurbished and donated by Blackstone Bicycle Works.

ReCycle, currently only a pilot program, allows students to check out bikes at the Regenstein Library, Ratner, teh Social Service Administration Building, and 6045 Kenwood between 8:30 a.m. an 5:00 p.m. weekdays, after registering online. The ideas came from Director of Sustainability Ilsa Flanagan and the University Architect Steve Wiesenthal, who rides his bike to work every day. Flanagan and Wiesenthal also partnered with fourth-year Jarrod Wolf, president of Student Government, to add bike racks on campus for about 1,500 more bikes.

Flanagan mentioned hat other universities already have these types of programs in place. Countries like France have what Flanagan calls "third- generation programs" where a rider can simply swipe a credit card and check out a bike. But from teh reCycles's early stages, "it was really important to me that it be a free program," she said

All bikes must be returned on the day they are checked out, and bikes can't be reserved. However, reservations may become a possibility depending on the success of the pilot program. Flanagan hopes to survey users at the end of teh quarter and find the "best way to expand and still manage successfully." Although users must sign a waver and are responsible for damage to bikes, they will not be held accountable for the normal wear and tear of riding.

the programs's organizers also took safety into account. All riders are provided with safety rules and tips and there are plans of safety workshops later this month that will be taught by Blackstone Bikes [and later by Bike Ambassadors of Alliance for Alternative Transportation]. Although helmets are not provided, they are strongly suggested.

There are currently 222 registered users, and more are joining every day. "Just this week was teh first time all the bikes were checked out at the Reg.," Flanagan said. Most people rent bikes for four or five hours. Although not currently open for weekends, Flanagan said, reCycle is loaning bikes for the Southside Bike Tour Saturday. [Students who don't ride often enough to make a bike purchase, say the program is ideal.[ The bikes were bought by the Office of Sustainability from Blackstone Bikes, which will also maintain them throughout the course of the program. This is the first partnership between a nonprofit group and a university to create a program like this, Flanagan said. "It sets a different tone," she said.

[Suggestions have included adding bikes to dorms and offering the service on weekends. One purpose is to see whether such programs really change behavior.] Top

Links and resources

Note: For CATS/Regional Planning Board either the old www.catsmpo.com or www.rpbchicago.org can be used and Soles and Spokes.

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:

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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.

And visit the AARP website.

Note that while the Task Force plans to address problems of bikes on sidewalks, rushing turns or through at intersections and without safety and warning gear, bike groups seem more interested in their interactions with cars and seek more bike trails along streets. See in Bike and City Bike Plan page.

From the mayor's Pedestrian Advisory Council presentation April 23, 2009. (T.Y. Lin, CDOT)

What: Designed, operated, maintained so they are safe, comfortable and convenient for all users- pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and motorists of all ages and abilities. Too many streets are built without the minimum accommodations, signing, or striping. Americans want to walk and bike more--55% prefer; 33% don't drive. 30% don't own a car; 21% are over 65; there are the children and Americans who cannot afford autos or choose not to have them. Yet many streets are not complete: sidewalks and crosswalks are nonexistent, out of code or in disrepair, streets uninviting to bicyclists, difficult to t cross on foot, or even inaccessible, have construction zones that don't take into account pedestrian challenges.

Policies. Design, operate and maintain the entire right of way to ensure safety and accessibility for all users.
"The safety and convenience of all users of the transportation system, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and motor vehicle drivers, shall be accommodated and balanced in all types of transportation and development projects and through all phases of a project, so that even the most vulnerable - children, elderly, and persons with disabilities - can travel safety within the public right-of-way."

Why a policy? To update practices, integrating the needs of all street users into all phases of a project. To ensure every project becomes an opportunity to help create a complete street; to bring an overarching vision and consistency to disparate departmental approaches; To improve departmental efficiency and streamlining. Scope of Work:
Input from a steering committee (CDOT divisions, OEMC Operations, Community Development, Zoning and Land Use).
Interviews with key stakeholders (CTA, MOPD, D of Envir, Mayor's Bicycle Advisory, CMAP, Police, IDOT bureaus).
Prepare Preliminary Report of practices and recommendations on improving city processes, design manuals, education and training:
Prepare Final Implementation Process Report (issue-obstacles-opportunities, incorporate feedback and project audits, a checklist to be use in all projects all phases, recommend changes to standards-policies-practices-education.
Conduct audits of recent projects-- were all user's needs accommodated?, review of preliminary planning documents, field visits, field reviews. Top

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Local bicyclers ask more trails, but would they really improve safety?

The University of Chicago is introducing in sumer 2009 a program of Shared Bikes and also expanding its progam to teach/train bicyclists and those who interface with them about rules and laws, best practices, best equipment and more. HPKCC and OWL encourage these and hope to see them available to more in the community.

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.

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The Lakefront Bike Trail

[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.

_____________

Coverage: New pedestrian underpasses open to the public (and there is concern about Oakland overpasses)

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.

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Don't forget to look for the Migratory Bird Trail signs, signifying a good place along the lakefront to spot birds, especially during the spring and fall migration.

Other sections

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?

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CDOT's Chicago Bike 2010 Plan

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:

1. What questions do you want answered or what specific additional information do you need about any of the proposals?
2. Which proposals are your most important priorities?
3. What other ideas do you have that aren't mentioned?

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

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CATS (Chicago Area Transportation Study)- now CMAP)

monitors and prepares Regional Transportation Plan proposals for bike and pedestrian projects and networks under the program names

Soles and Spokes and Congestion and Mitigation of Air Quality (CMAQ)

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

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Chicago Bike Map Streets for Cycling, Summer, 2004

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.

Are you bike street smart?

Bike-ped-auto interface danger and issues. To get on listserve, info etc. randy@biketraffic.org.

General tips

1. Wear a helmet
2. Yield to pedestrians, stay off sidewalks
3. Look out for car doors
4. Dress appropriately
5. Be aware of what's going on around you
6. Check your brakes
7. Pump up your tires
8. Adjust the seat
9. Use light at night
10. Lock your bike when you're not using it

Be seen and communicate, avoid injury

• Turning and stopping: look over shoulder well ahead, then give clear arm signal will ahead
• Make eye contact with motorists
• Use white headlight (pref. flashing) in dark or poor visibility, with red rear reflector (they're the law)
• Use reflectors and bright, reflective clothing and a bell
• earphones are illegal
• Wear the helmet, make sure it fits and use the "eyes/ears/mouth" test (see the front rim, side straps in a v below each ear, if open mouth wide you feel helmet push.

Theft prevention:

• Never leave bike unlocked even for a second
• Use high quality U-lock and or chain
• Lock frame and front wheel to rack or pole
• For higher security, remove front wheel and lock it to frame and rear wheel

Sharing the road

• Be as much like a car as possible and take a car's space
• Ride in a straight line, predictably, and stay 4 feet from parked cars
• Never ride against traffic
• Obey all traffic signs and regulations
• Don't ride on sidewalks--it's against ordinance if you're over 12 (A few walks are marked for bikes)
• When necessary, don't hesitate to use the entire traffic lane, keeping to the center, especially when too narrow for a bike and a car and you can move at same speed as cars.
• Crossing an intersection: use lane furthest to the right that points where you are going; follow lane markings. If left turn is unsafe, cross the street on the right and then turn.
• Courtesy is a matter of safety- wave/acknowledge turns, yielding, made a mistake etc.

The door zone (3-4 feet along left side of a parked car)

• Use left side of your lane if necessary to stay out of the zone
• Look inside each parked car before passing. Change lanes if necessary and proceed with caution
• Watch behind you in case you have to swing out. Be sure mirror(s) is working order

Sharing the off-street trail

• Keep to the right, yield to pedestrians and traffic, use appropriate speed
• Keep to the bike part of the path
• Watch both ways at crossings and yield to through traffic and pedestrians
• Advise others when passing: bell, horn, or call out. Pass on left. Wave or nod.

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.

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More on Bikes v Cars--folks, this is not demolition derby! And there's plenty of blame to go around

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)

• Blowing red lights
• Wrong way Corrigan's
• Reckless, weaving, squeezing through --messengers esp.
• No helmet but using iPod, cell phone
• Pounding on cars to get attention

Top 5 from cyclists

• Drivers on cell phones or otherwise distracted
• Not looking before opening car door
• Keeping turn signal on (or on prematurely)
• Speeding, sudden stop
• In bike lane

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.

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Bikes are green!

From the League of American Bicyclists website: Bikes:

• Do not use fossil fuels
• Displace over 238 million gallons of gasoline per year
• Motor vehicle emissions represent 31% of the total carbon dioxide, 81% of carbon monoxide, and 49% of nitrogen oxides released in the U.S.
• A 4-mile round bike trip keeps up to 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air vs auto.
• 40% of all trips in the U.S. are within 2 miles of home!
• Cycling is the 2nd most preferred mode of travel.
• Easier and certainly cheaper to park, taking up far less space than a car: 6-20 per space
• Bike racks in Chicago: 10,000 and growing
• Biking reduces water, air and noise pollution
• A bicyclist burns up to 25 calories per mile
• A bike that replaces a car for all travel is equal to planting 170 trees.

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.