The Lake Street "Protected" lane makes about as much sense as

... the Jackson protected lane doesn't.

Great to see this coming together last weekend.

Name the intersections.

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Permalink Reply by Trachea on June 15, 2012 at 11:17am

I rode from OP>downtown for several years. Worst harassment was on Washington. It's a nice bike route, just not safe.

Daniel G said:

Well, I ride that part of town at about 7-8 in the morning so that's not a safety issue I have much experience with. The one time I took Lake in from OP, it was totally covered in glass in possibly the least desirable blocks in the city to get a flat tire on. I was given inches of space by anyone on the right side of the pylons in the Garfield Park sections. And metal pylons are just a bad thing to have in or near the road if you're going to wipe out. Washington/Warren is much calmer, all residential, and people seem to respect the bike lane. It's a nice ride, to be honest. I just can't see anyone saying the same thing about Lake.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 15, 2012 at 12:10pm

Glass and road conditions have been my biggest issue with Lake on the occasions when I've used it.

Tiberculosis said:

I think it's great, but I haven't taken it yet. My big complaint about Lake has always been the poor shape of the road and glass.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on June 15, 2012 at 12:32pm

Good observation. It may just be that there's not a whole lot of cross-traffic in the particular stretch seen in these photos.

James BlackHeron said:

Has there been complaints about too much marking going through the intersections for the bike lanes? It seems to me they have pulled WAY back on the dashed lines through the intersections in your photos compared to many earlier examples. Since it's going to wear away in short order I don't see why they would use less of it when it's going to start disappearing the moment it is laid down.

Or is it like the bollards on Kinzie where folks thought it was an "eye-sore" so they are cutting back. I'm sure driver's sense of aesthetics is MUCH more important than any silly bicyclist's safety. I guess as long as we have our magic hats on it's all OK.

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Permalink Reply by Peenworm "8 mile" Grubologist on June 15, 2012 at 12:36pm

I just took this up this morning, heading back from Daley Plaza, and it's quite lovely. Basically the whole outer lanes are parking and bike lane now, which is pretty sensible given that there's not a whole heck of a lot of traffic down Lake anyway, and the green line supports had previously kept drivers a bit too inclined to sideswipe for a lot of that distance.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Butterfield on June 15, 2012 at 12:57pm

people are still figuring out the parking situation. there are a lot of cars parked in the lane still. i saw carse parked in the intended spots and in the bike lane, just staggered. looked like kind of a fun slalom, except for all the doors.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Hochstadter on June 15, 2012 at 1:00pm

I think h' was saying it's a great thing.

Steven Vance said:

I'm not enthused about the Lake Street bike lane either.

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Permalink Reply by Tim S on June 15, 2012 at 5:03pm

I have taken it 2x now coming in from OP to the harbor, love the new bike lane.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Borzo on June 15, 2012 at 6:06pm

I love this protected lane. Makes all the sense in the world...putting hardly used pavement to good use. Now cyclists have to get out there and use all the protected lanes to make sure our claim to the streets sticks.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on June 15, 2012 at 6:18pm

I initially read it the way you did but then decided he understood and meant thet he was neither enthused about Lake street nor Washington.

Julie Hochstadter said:

I think h' was saying it's a great thing.

Steven Vance said:

I'm not enthused about the Lake Street bike lane either.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on June 15, 2012 at 6:20pm

And now they also need to add a few more Green Line stops so being close to train tracks actually helps you if you break down.

Greg Borzo said:

I love this protected lane. Makes all the sense in the world...putting hardly used pavement to good use. Now cyclists have to get out there and use all the protected lanes to make sure our claim to the streets sticks.

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Permalink Reply by Will on June 16, 2012 at 9:53am

Until recently I lived on May Street, between Lake and Fulton. I almost never chose Lake as a route. I once had a friend get a flat on Lake on her way to visit me. The debris on Lake is a real problem, especially west of Halsted. I simply don't think the city ever sweeps it, if that issue were addressed, it would be much less problematic for cyclists.

The reality is, however, that many cyclists use Lake, and so in that regard, a bike lane makes sense, and is long overdue.