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Wicker Park Committee votes against protected lanes on Milwaukee

DNA Info article says that Wicker Park Committee has voted against protected bike lanes on Milwaukee between North Avenue and Division due to concerns about the effects on motor vehicle parking.

 

"It would kill the merchants. For the sake of bikes you're disturbing vehicle and pedestrian traffic.  What are you going to do, walk a block and a half to cross the street? ... Why don't we create a second level bike lane that goes over the streets like the "L" tracks?" said Kevin O'Donnell, owner of Pint Bar, 1547 N. Milwaukee Ave.

 

O'Donnell, who has owned Pint for nine years, said parking is already tough on Milwaukee, "a corridor rich with retail and restaurants."

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 12, 2013 at 4:45pm

Ban all personal motor vehicle traffic between the orbits of Venus and Mars. 

Permalink Reply by April on April 12, 2013 at 11:47pm

+1

James BlackHeron said:

Boo hoo traffic clusterfuck.  If people want to drive then they should move over onto the Kennedy just to the side.   

Too many people are using cars for short trips and Milwaukee is a prime example of this.   The Kennedy is right off to the side if they don't like driving on a parking lot.  I say slow them down even more.  Maybe they'll decide to take a bike or ride the Blue line.  So many alternatives and yet cars STILL drive up and down Milwaukee like it is the interstate on the long haul downtown or outbound.

Make it narrower, make it slower, make it unbearable to drive on in a big hulking gas-guzzling CO2-spewing car.   That's the whole point. 

Built it and they will come.  Maybe unbuild it and the damn cars will finally go somewhere else. 

Permalink Reply by April on April 12, 2013 at 11:48pm

Peter that is an F'n brilliant idea.  Can we nominate you for the Wicker Park Committee?

peter moorman said:

Why not eliminate parking on the NE side of Mil. Ave and create a 2- way bike lane there.

This would leave half of the parking spaces on the SW side of Mil Ave.

They could double the price for parking in those spots and have the same net

and drivers would gladly pay for the convenience of those sacred spots,

Permalink Reply by Albany Park Al on April 13, 2013 at 11:55am

Yeah, that place is too popular--no one goes there any more!  ;- )

James BlackHeron said:

There might as well be no parking on Milwaukee as there is so little of it to begin with and there are never any open spots.  it might as well not exist at all for all practical purposes.  Just rip it out and put in PBL's instead.  

Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on April 13, 2013 at 1:09pm

What they did in NY City at 6 way intersections is to ban automobiles on the diagonal approaches for 1 block in either direction making the 6 way into 4 ways (Broadway at Times Square).  Traffic times were cut down considerably.

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on April 13, 2013 at 5:07pm

Did you say drivers would gladly pay double for parking when they used to get twice as much parking for half the cost?

peter moorman said:

.....

and drivers would gladly pay for the convenience of those sacred spots,

Permalink Reply by Yolondra Yarborough on April 14, 2013 at 12:36am

I got doored on Milwaukee last night! I could have used those protected lanes.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 14, 2013 at 1:49am

Are you OK?

Yolondra Yarborough said:

I got doored on Milwaukee last night! I could have used those protected lanes.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 14, 2013 at 8:40am

+1

I hope you are OK Yolandra!  That section of Milwaukee is a terrible area with so many doorings. It makes me really angry that there is so much resistance to fixing the dooring issue there for bikes.  I remember riding home from CCM last fall and seeing two different bicyclists being loaded into ambulances from fresh doorings as I rode home through that area.  It's incredible that a few hundred parking spots are worth the carnage they cause us to these entitled car-drivers. 

There are some really good bicycle-specific lawyers in the Chicago area, and if you have any issues with this dooring Yolandra I would suggest you look into one of them right away to represent you.

h' 1.0 said:

Are you OK?

Yolondra Yarborough said:

I got doored on Milwaukee last night! I could have used those protected lanes.

Permalink Reply by Yolondra Yarborough on April 19, 2013 at 12:55am

I'm ok. He was getting out of a taxi on the right side in traffic, so I was lucky that I fell into a parking spot and not into traffic or a parked car. Thanks for the info.

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on April 19, 2013 at 2:21pm

The whole reason why I signed that petition was because Dustin almost became dust from that ragged stretch of Milwaukee. Doored, floored and run friken over!

Kevin C said:

Incorrect. CDOT is still going ahead with its plans to put a protected bike lane on Milwaukee Avenue between Racine and Kinzie, where a PBL is completely unnecessary.

Juan 2-8 mi. said:

Soooo, the petition we all signed had nil effect. ARG

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