The Chainlink

Suburban Bike Lanes

I see from Grid Chicago (a great new site) that the City of Chicago is pledging to install 100 miles of protected bike lanes. I assume some of the funding is coming from the $30+ million in CMAQ funds the City received for their Streets for Cycling initiative. 

 

But here is my question? Where should protected bike lanes get installed in the suburbs? Post your ideas here.

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Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on July 31, 2011 at 9:05pm
"The suburbs" covers a pretty wide area.  I think you have to examine each town to see where the main bicycling arterials are.  In my town, Evanston, I'd immediately vote for Davis Street & Church Street from the lake to Ridge.  And more than bike lanes, I'd put in some decent streetlights on Chicago Avenue from Howard Street to South Boulevard--I'm sure I'm gonna get killed there some night, riding in the inky darkness along the cemetery.
Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on August 1, 2011 at 9:14am

I would actually disagree with Thunder Snow. I'm some (many?) of the suburbs I would not look for the bike arterials. If that's the case you're going to build a lane going to and from the forest preserve.

 

What you need to look for is the connector streets where your only option if you need to ride is 65 mph traffic and no shoulder.

 

A "build it and they will come" attitude.

Permalink Reply by wigner on August 1, 2011 at 9:22am
you can put them on some of the tougher areas like any cal sag or 294 crossing over a bridge, but otherwise i think the burbs are pretty awesome for riding just sharing the road with cars. i ride all over beverly / oak lawn / palos / willow springs / orland area and you can get around pretty well without dedicated lanes. plus there's not enough riders to justify it. if someone wants to do the occasional aerobic work out ride, they'll go to the paths in the forest preserves. there's not too many commuters out here.
Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on August 1, 2011 at 9:30am

I think one reason there aren't many commuters is that there is a lack on infrastructure. Many people ride or not because of a perception of danger, not the actuality. I think it has been learned throughout the world, that if you put in the infrastructure, people will use it.

 

I'm mostly fine riding in the suburbs, but would my mother-in-law commute down a busy arterial street? No, there is a perception of danger.

Permalink Reply by wigner on August 1, 2011 at 10:00am

really?

i just asked all the people in my office, they all live within 10 miles of work, and none of them said they'd ever consider riding to work.

Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on August 1, 2011 at 10:28am

If there were lanes around, signage, and they seen that everyday, I think the idea would pop into their head.

 

Look at http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/the-bicycle-dividend/ they explain some of it.

Permalink Reply by Liz on August 1, 2011 at 11:08am

I grew up in Lisle, and while I rode my bike on paths it had never occurred to me that I could ride around town with it.  Looking back now as a cyclist 90% of the trips I made where 1-5 miles and been just as fast to get to by bike.  Had there been better education and safety for riders in this area I believe I would have started cycling more around town.  There are the places I traveled go would be a safe ride if there where just a few miles of connected safe bike lanes to get through pinch points at highways and rivers.  

 

One example is the Morton Arboretum,  this is a fantastic biking destination, but the road leading to the arboretum (Rt. 53) is very dangerous to cyclists.  If there was a safe rout there than people who are looking for a weekend ride with the family may consider riding there, instead of driving 1-2 miles with bikes.  There are many other example of excellent bike trails with 5 lane 45+ mph roads or highways keeping access limited even though residential areas are within a few miles. 

 

I think that adding protected lanes leading from side streets to and at viaducts and bridges at arterial pinch points is the most effective area to start.  


wigner said:

really?

i just asked all the people in my office, they all live within 10 miles of work, and none of them said they'd ever consider riding to work.

Permalink Reply by Will on August 1, 2011 at 4:16pm
It's kind of funny to think about protected bike lanes in the suburbs, when you can't even get through Lombard on the Illinois Prairie Path safely. At Main St in Lombard, signs warn cyclists they must "yield to all lanes of traffic" and indeed, very few cars stop to let bicycles pass by safely on this busy road. I even observed one car stop, only to have the car behind it pass and go right through the crosswalk while we were patiently waiting to go through. Lombard is not bike-friendly.
Permalink Reply by Will on August 2, 2011 at 8:49am

No, by my logic the discussion of protected bike lanes in the suburbs is just a little ironic, but I'm all for them.

 

Two points about crossing Main Street in Lombard on the IPP... First, it's impossible to cross without the presence of traffic. It's a very busy street, and there is always traffic on it. Second, I tried to cross only after cars began to yield to me. What am I going to do, wave them on? No, I started to cross, and that's when I observed the car passing the one that had yielded to me.

 

The sign telling cyclists to yield to traffic is ridiculous. There should be a light or stop sign for cars at that intersection. It's just like a regular intersection, it's just that the cross traffic (on the IPP) isn't made up of cars. That's the only difference.

Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on August 2, 2011 at 8:53am

My suburb has about half a dozen protected bike lanes. You wouldn't call them that because they are where there used to be a sidewalk. They rip that up, pave it and put in signage. Fits every definition of a protected lane.

 

Like I stated before, the problem is not their lack of existence. The problem is that they don't take you anywhere except for the path, mostly.

Permalink Reply by Liz on August 2, 2011 at 9:57am

I would recommend writing to the village about the cyclist and pedestrian crossing issues.  I know when work was done to the IPP in '05ish? they added the pedestrian island.  Let the public works/village counsel know that this was not enough to make crossing main street safe for IPP traffic and that a signal should be added.  There are often special tif funds and grants for this type of installation (the lights added to the path where a special fund). 


Will V. said:

No, by my logic the discussion of protected bike lanes in the suburbs is just a little ironic, but I'm all for them.

 

Two points about crossing Main Street in Lombard on the IPP... First, it's impossible to cross without the presence of traffic. It's a very busy street, and there is always traffic on it. Second, I tried to cross only after cars began to yield to me. What am I going to do, wave them on? No, I started to cross, and that's when I observed the car passing the one that had yielded to me.

 

The sign telling cyclists to yield to traffic is ridiculous. There should be a light or stop sign for cars at that intersection. It's just like a regular intersection, it's just that the cross traffic (on the IPP) isn't made up of cars. That's the only difference.

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on August 2, 2011 at 10:51am

Thanks, A Suburban Cyclist, for bringing up this important issue. Protected bike lanes are a relatively new accommodation for bicyclists in the U.S.

 

Statistics from other communities show that these facilities have a lot of promise to improve safety for cyclists. Indeed a study by the Harvard School of Public Health found protected bike lane routes have 28% less crashes than similar routes with conventional lanes.

 

There are numerous suburban municipalities that have bike networks. Schaumburg has an award winning bikeways network (Bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community) and so does Naperville.

 

Active Transportation Alliance is incorporating protected bike lanes in our facility recommendations for our planning clients. Here are a few of our considerations in choosing locations for protected bike lanes:

 

  1. Roads where bicyclists feel unsafe because of speed and traffic volume
  2. Roads with parking and few driveways
  3. Roads with high bicycle traffic counts
  4. Roads with adequate right of way

For more information on protected bike lanes, we encourage you to visit:

http://nacto.org/cities-for-cycling/design-guide/cycle-tracks/

 

As we posted last week, our suburban staff are always available to hear your specific concerns.

 

We hope that protected bike lanes will be showing up soon in some of our suburban communities.

 

Thanks,

Dan Persky, Active Trans

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