The Chainlink

Wells Street at Merchandise Mart

Last week on our way to the MBAC meeting, we noticed cones.

Are those still there?

It was mentioned during the MBAC meeting, but I don't remember what they said about it. 

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Permalink Reply by Derek on July 9, 2012 at 4:32pm

Yeah, the drivers have been winning the sharrows battle in front of Merchandise Mart.  At least twice a week (out of 5 commutes) I'll hear a someone floor it to pass me after turning from Kedzie.  It seems pretty clear they are upset a cyclist is in 'their' lane.... and they are winning, I've stopped trying to take the lane.  I'd rather dodge the pedestrians stepping out to hail a cab than get clipped from behind.



Andy Pielet said:

IMO the last few days they are pretty aggressive in taking the lane before you do.  Because they know those sharrows mean we can if we so choose.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 9, 2012 at 11:57pm

Derek, I'd like to clarify for all readers that the lane in front of Merchandise Mart (just south of Kinzie*) is a buffered bike lane, and doesn't have sharrows. The sharrows don't begin until south of Wacker Drive. (None of this changes what you're experiencing, of course.)

Derek said:

Yeah, the drivers have been winning the sharrows battle in front of Merchandise Mart.  At least twice a week (out of 5 commutes) I'll hear a someone floor it to pass me after turning from Kedzie.  It seems pretty clear they are upset a cyclist is in 'their' lane.... and they are winning, I've stopped trying to take the lane.  I'd rather dodge the pedestrians stepping out to hail a cab than get clipped from behind.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 10, 2012 at 12:23am

News on the Wells Street bridge reconstruction: Governor Quinn will unveil a $1.6 billion transportation projects list Tuesday in Bellwood. The $1.6 billion, all in bonds (yay for borrowed money), includes $22.5 million for the Wells Street bridge. 

From the Chicago Tribune. 

Permalink Reply by in it to win it 8.0 mi on July 10, 2012 at 8:12am

I've taken the lane on Wells several days since the shared signage has been installed with good results.

 

Permalink Reply by Cameron 7.5 mi on July 16, 2012 at 10:03am

Road closures are expected to begin in December.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/13758202-418/wells-stre...


Steven Vance said:

News on the Wells Street bridge reconstruction: Governor Quinn will unveil a $1.6 billion transportation projects list Tuesday in Bellwood. The $1.6 billion, all in bonds (yay for borrowed money), includes $22.5 million for the Wells Street bridge. 

From the Chicago Tribune. 

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) on July 16, 2012 at 10:33am

It's going to take a whole year? Awesome... How is the CTA going to run the Brown Line over the bridge if it is being torn apart? It will have to be routed via the State St. subway on weekends, so Armitage, Sedgwick, Chicago/Franklin, and Merchandise Mart will not have service on the weekends? That's going to go over well...

Cameron Puetz said:

Road closures are expected to begin in December.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/13758202-418/wells-stre...


Steven Vance said:

News on the Wells Street bridge reconstruction: Governor Quinn will unveil a $1.6 billion transportation projects list Tuesday in Bellwood. The $1.6 billion, all in bonds (yay for borrowed money), includes $22.5 million for the Wells Street bridge. 

From the Chicago Tribune. 

Permalink Reply by Cameron 7.5 mi on July 16, 2012 at 11:05am

All of the stations impacted by a subway reroute are within a half mile of a Red Line station. It's not an ideal situation, but weekend reroutes to the subway won't leave anyone stranded. It won't be any worse than a few years ago when the Red Line was rerouted to the elevated tracks on weekends to replace tracks in the subway.

 

It sounds like a lot of the work is the framing for the road deck, which will have no impact on the trains. Also all of the work on the mechanical and electrical systems will have no impact on anyone during the winter when no bridge lifts are scheduled. It's an old structure, things don't last forever with out periodic major renovations. I'm glad to see CDOT staying ahead of the curve and doing this while it's a renovation project and not a replacement.



Adam Herstein said:

It's going to take a whole year? Awesome... How is the CTA going to run the Brown Line over the bridge if it is being torn apart? It will have to be routed via the State St. subway on weekends, so Armitage, Sedgwick, Chicago/Franklin, and Merchandise Mart will not have service on the weekends? That's going to go over well...

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 17, 2012 at 1:57pm

What Cameron said. 

"In its planning process, the city has said CTA trains will be minimally affected — meaning train service might only be curtailed during the weekends, and that CTA buses that travel down Wells will be rerouted.

But the CTA says those plans haven’t been finalized and that the agency is continuing discussions with city planners."

Here's what the street markings will look like when the bridge is complete (with concrete infill):

Wells Street bridge striping plans (extract)

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