I rode Dearborn today...anyone else?
I just missed the press conference and just hung out at lunch to see how it would all work. It seemed easy enough, so I took Dearborn as my starting route home to Roscoe Village. Normally I hit Franklin to Orleans then north to Lincoln.
I have to say, it was pretty easy and relatively safe. The ambassadors were helpful with the the auto traffic. The walkers were easy enough to avoid. I had to chuckle at two riders riding side by side in the lane.
What I didn't see was any oncoming traffic; southbound riders. I am guessing that will come in time or at other times during the day.
Way to go Mayor RE! This is really making a statement.
Who else rode the new path?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams 6.6 mi on -
Rode it south from Monroe to Polk a bit after rush hour. It was surreal. We stopped for the red bike signals and proceeded through the green ones. Car drivers respected the left turn arrows. I'm looking forward to riding it north on Monday.
It felt plenty protected by a row of parked cars between the bike lanes and the moving vehicular traffic lanes.
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Permalink Reply by Lee Crandell on -
I second your sentiment about pioneers like Randy who stuck with their vision despite the odds against them.
And I can't wait for an east-west Loop route too! If another route doesn't happen sooner, we should at least see protected bike lanes on Washington and Randolph in 2014 as part of the Central Loop BRT project: http://brtchicago.com/brtloop.html . Can you picture the intersection of Dearborn and Washington in less than two years with intersecting protected bike lanes and new bus lanes and transit stations on Washington? Or a protected bike lane on Randolph with a seamless connection to the Lakefront Trail? Makes me giddy thinking about it.
Michelle Stenzel said:Now we just need a good east-west route through the Loop! :)
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi on -
When that happens Chicago will likely be at the top of the heap in the forward thinking, sustainable transportation category. How exciting that will be!
Also, I have not had a chance to really look at the 2020 plan, yet. I hope it includes some good routes for our friends coming from the south.
Lee Crandell said:If another route doesn't happen sooner, we should at least see protected bike lanes on Washington and Randolph in 2014 as part of the Central Loop BRT project: http://brtchicago.com/brtloop.html . Can you picture the intersection of Dearborn and Washington in less than two years with intersecting protected bike lanes and new bus lanes and transit stations on Washington? Or a protected bike lane on Randolph with a seamless connection to the Lakefront Trail? Makes me giddy thinking about it.
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Permalink Reply by LT on -
Rode it both directions last night, northbound at 8 pm and southbound at 11. It was amazing! Northbound there were 5 separate cabs or cars using it as a loading zone, but there were none at 11. That was a bit annoying but I figured hat it was only the first day and they will learn. This will make my trips north so much safer and pleasant!
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Permalink Reply by Anthony Swantek on -
My friend and I rode into downtown just to check out the new bike lanes. (We live around O'hare.) It was really nice riding downtown in the lanes. We rode the whole route from the river to Polk and back again. A big shout out to the bike volunteers who we stopped to talk to. A fun ride!!
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Schneider on -
I rode Dearborn from Polk to North Ave. last night at about 8:00. I saw only two or three other cyclists in the protected lanes. I'm happy with the new traffic signals in the two-way section between Polk and Kinzie. The road surface in some places could be better - rough in a few spots, with lots of manhole covers just below grade also.
In the protected lane, one SUV driver decided to use the bike lane for loading (rather than parking in marked loading zone). My angry stare left him clueless.
Finally, in the old bike lane in River North, I encountered the usual BS of drivers using the bike lane as a left turn lane, and the same old same old double parking in the bike lane in front of Excalibur.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on the lake on -
Hit it up about midnight. Pedestrians were treating it as a sidewalk extension, rendering parts of it about as useful as the Lakefront Trail on the first warm day of spring. Perhaps this is why a particular hipster ninja cupcake was instead riding in the right-hand auto lane, breezing through every intersection without pause regardless of what color any of the lights were. She may as well have tied on a pretty bow and presented herself as a gift to John Kass.
Also encountered two oncoming drivers who blatantly disregarded a red left-turn arrow while I had a green. At least they had the decency to yield to me, although one of them was awfully impatient about it. Everyone speaks of a learning curve, but there shouldn't have to be a learning curve. It should be pretty obvious at the outset how to behave around these things.Otherwise it was OK, I guess. I'm never in the Loop, so I probably won't use it unless I go out of my way to do so. Maybe if/when Kinzie is extended, it will make for a better alternative to Halsted or Canal for going south to north generally, but at present it just kind of dumps you at the bottom of a hill with no clear place to go if you're unfamiliar with the neighborhood.
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Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on -
Here's our write-up of the ribbon cutting and ride on Grid Chicago:
http://gridchicago.com/2012/a-great-day-in-chicago-protected-lanes-...
Made me proud to ride a bike in Chicago!
John Greenfield
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Permalink Reply by Shaun Jacobsen on -
Does anyone know if the bike signals are timed for a green wave? That would be a good idea for getting bike traffic moving about 10-12 MPH to move quickly along Dearborn.
I haven't had the chance to try it out yet. Hopefully soon before it snows!
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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on -
There was previous info, maybe even earlier in this thread, to the effect that this facility is not meant for speedy through-travel and that purposely there will be no timing of the lights to facilitate such (which sounds fine to me.)
Shaun Jacobsen said:Does anyone know if the bike signals are timed for a green wave? That would be a good idea for getting bike traffic moving about 10-12 MPH to move quickly along Dearborn.
I haven't had the chance to try it out yet. Hopefully soon before it snows!
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Permalink Reply by Shaun Jacobsen on
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10mph, in my opinion, isn't "speedy." Signals for cars are different that signals for bikes: drivers don't exert a lot of energy to start moving after being stopped, people on bikes do. It would have been nice to have at least a few blocks worth of greens at a certain speed to at least move quickly through the Loop.
h' said:There was previous info, maybe even earlier in this thread, to the effect that this facility is not meant for speedy through-travel and that purposely there will be no timing of the lights to facilitate such (which sounds fine to me.)
Shaun Jacobsen said:Does anyone know if the bike signals are timed for a green wave? That would be a good idea for getting bike traffic moving about 10-12 MPH to move quickly along Dearborn.
I haven't had the chance to try it out yet. Hopefully soon before it snows!
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