The Chainlink

Businesses that habitually block bike lanes

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for dealing with the problem of businesses that habitually leave signs, cones, and other garbage blocking bike lanes. The biggest offenders seem to be valet parking attendants and car washes. I know that valet parking requires a permit from the city, has anyone ever tried complaining to the city about a valet? Is this an effective approach or just an exercise in frustration? I’ve tried talking to valet attendants which unsurprisingly did nothing. Is going inside the restaurant contracting with the valet and complaining to a manager worthwhile, or just another way to waste time?

 

Two places that I routinely have problems with are The Fifty/50 (2047 W Division) and Via Carducci La Sorella (1928 W Division). Both contract with Third Coast Valet for parking.

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Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on March 21, 2011 at 6:46pm

Cameron, this is an excellent question and thanks for bringing it up. I agree that valets *are* problematic. I have noticed this on Well street north of North avenue in the summertime, myself.

 

I would say that calling 311 and reporting it might be a better approach as per the article in the Chicago Trib today mentioning this is an illegal and reportable action when drivers drive, stand, or park in  bike lanes or marked shared lanes, but Im not so sure about valets.  Technically they only act in a  driving capacity when they drive the car out of the bike lane, but that counts in my book. 

 

Maybe our friends from Active Trannies can weigh in. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 21, 2011 at 7:08pm

We were having a conversation about this problem in a thread somewhere here a few weeks back.  Someone started calling a few places and writing to their internet presences and it was getting quick results with the managers/web-people replying that they would fix the issues.

 

Personally, I have more fun just kicking down the signs when I see them, but I'm sort of a jerk...

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 21, 2011 at 8:32pm

I used to kick signs and yell but had a door guy at a crappy club chase me with a knife last year.

Now I kick signs and yell.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 21, 2011 at 8:53pm
Never bring a knife to a gun fight...
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on March 21, 2011 at 10:00pm
Yea, I facebooked 50/50 and The Frontier, and the management said that they would take care of it. I don't think it was too effective though, Frontier's valet is still putting the signs in the bike lane. I expect that if we had a bunch of people post negative reviews on their yelp.com page and facebook they would quickly change their policies.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 21, 2011 at 10:14pm


James Baum said:
Never bring a knife to a gun fight...
Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on March 21, 2011 at 10:18pm

Perhaps these establishments might benefit from an organized visit from some of our friends on Critical Mass.  Maybe a mass ride for all the venues that squat in bike lanes?

 

Either that or a friendly protest a la Chicago Auto Show style?

 

Kelvin Mulcky said:

Yea, I facebooked 50/50 and The Frontier, and the management said that they would take care of it. I don't think it was too effective though, Frontier's valet is still putting the signs in the bike lane. I expect that if we had a bunch of people post negative reviews on their yelp.com page and facebook they would quickly change their policies.
Permalink Reply by Clare on March 22, 2011 at 8:54am

This is one of my biggest biking pet-peeves for sure. I did have some success several years back, when I was still commuting downtown via Milwaukee Ave. The offender was the car wash on Milwaukee just SE of the Milwaukee-Grand-Halsted intersection (River West Car Wash I think?).

I politely and repeatedly asked the staff and management NOT to leave their signs in the bike lane or let their customers idle there while waiting their turn for the wash. And they repeatedly ignored me until I started confronting the customers themselves. Most customers just threw their hands up, but this clearly irritated the management and, though they didn't bring out any weapons, I did get called every disgusting name in the book, especially those referring to female anatomy. It quickly became an  unpleasant morning ritual for everyone involved.

 

Then one day I saw a staffer at the Bike Federation and flagged him down. He was so calm, and learned from the manager that the car wash had been struggling to get a permit to use the parking lane as a 15-minute wait zone for their customers, and until that went through they "had" to use the bike lane. Somehow the folks at the Bike Fed got in touch with the city and helped them get their permit. The cars now use the parking lane, and the car wash even has a sign that says "Please do not block the Bike Lane." CBF gave them an award later that year, and although I shudder at the thought of those vile men getting an award, the bike lane is clear and everyone is happy.

 

But I still kick valet parking signs over every now and then, or when I'm feeling ambitious I will stop and fold them up and place them on the sidewalk.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 22, 2011 at 9:15am

A lot of places will just tell you what you want to hear when you complain to get you out of their faces. They'll just go back to doing whatever they were doing minutes after you have left.

 

Sometimes they just need to learn that if they put crap in the street it is going to get ran over/smashed/ruined.  

 

They wouldn't put a folding sign in the car lane because they know better that it'll just get crushed in short order.  But somehow people think the bike lane is an extension of the sidewalk so a sidewalk sign is OK there.  They figure that bikes are small and light and most riders are meek little milquetoasts who will not say anything and instead scream silently into their granola. 

 

When they realize that their sign is going to get kicked/ran-over and ruined in the bike lane just as it will in the auto lane then they'll stop doing it.

 

The other day there was some guy on Milwaukee with a big towel spinning it around and standing directly in the bike lane to attract drivers into the car wash.  He wasn't moving or stopping spinning his stupid towel.  I just aimed right at him.  He moved eventually, with a nasty look.  Get the FRAK out of the bike lane idiot... 

 

Permalink Reply by Bike Bloke on March 22, 2011 at 9:52am
Yes, and then it does make you wonder why aren't the cycle cops (good idea, by the way, which needs greatly extending...) doing anything about it?
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 22, 2011 at 11:51am
Guess I'm wondering-- why would you not call the alderman's office about it?
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 22, 2011 at 11:57am

Good story, thanks for sharing-- but I think we need to be aware that Chicago is huge and our advocacy org is relatively tiny--  I often feel like there's a sentiment in the "established" bike community that "advocacy should be done by the advocacy organization." that holds us back.  There are thousands of cyclists in Chicago and if we all take responsibility for a piece of the advocacy there's no limit to what we can accomplish.

 

I'm fighting the urge to find out which ward this is and call the alderman . . . people need to take ownership of their own daily drag rather than expecting others to fight their battles for them though (way backlogged on my own.)

Clare said:

 

Then one day I saw a staffer at the Bike Federation and flagged him down. He was so calm, and learned from the manager that the car wash had been struggling to get a permit to use the parking lane as a 15-minute wait zone for their customers, and until that went through they "had" to use the bike lane. Somehow the folks at the Bike Fed got in touch with the city and helped them get their permit. The cars now use the parking lane, and the car wash even has a sign that says "Please do not block the Bike Lane." CBF gave them an award later that year, and although I shudder at the thought of those vile men getting an award, the bike lane is clear and everyone is happy.

 

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