The Chainlink

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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Permalink Reply by Brendan Kevenides on December 17, 2012 at 4:50pm

That's nice.

Cheryl said:

Saw the municipal police setting a great example near the Westin this afternoon:

Permalink Reply by Winston Lazar on December 17, 2012 at 5:08pm

I road it today for the first time on my morning commute from Lincoln park. Its really unfortunate that the lane doesn't connect with the protected bike lane on Kinzie as the few blocks between the end of the protected lane and Dearborn can be treacherous.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on December 17, 2012 at 5:09pm

Winston Lazar said:

I road it today for the first time on my morning commute from Lincoln park. Its really unfortunate that the lane doesn't connect with the protected bike lane on Kinzie as the few blocks between the end of the protected lane and Dearborn can be treacherous.

That connection is planned for next year.

Cheryl said:

Saw the municipal police setting a great example near the Westin this afternoon:

Is that a federal cop?

Permalink Reply by maryrachel on December 17, 2012 at 5:34pm

I rode it north Friday night and that was my first experiencing trying to take Kinzie in the area without the PBL. It was a nightmare. Terrifying. I hope they make the connection a priority.

Permalink Reply by zerofivenein on December 17, 2012 at 5:59pm

i rode it today at about 3p southbound and then northbound... it's a step in the right direction, but it's not that wonderful (imo) for anything over 10-15mph... the surface is fairly rough in a good few places, and there are sewer grates and puddles strewn all about the southbound lane of it, and that bridge over the river at the north end could use those plates over the grates.

if the lower-i.q. pedestrians didn't stand in the lanes it would also be that much nicer.

but it'll definitely get more commuters on hybrids out and giving it a try since it's so conveniently located and the auto traffic seems to work well with it.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on December 17, 2012 at 7:06pm

Oh Charlie . . . . .

Cheryl said:

Saw the municipal police setting a great example near the Westin this afternoon:

Permalink Reply by maryrachel on December 17, 2012 at 7:17pm

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on December 17, 2012 at 7:29pm

I think that is one of the neatest shots of the Calder that I have seen!

Permalink Reply by djm on December 18, 2012 at 12:05am

I rode the bike lane this evening around 7p.  Its a nice addition to the infrastructure.  I had numerous opportunities to collide with errant pedestrians but didnt take advantage of any of them.  This was particularly bad when southbound because almost none look for traffic approaching from their left — perhaps we could import some "Look Both Ways" signs from London.  Hopefully this will improve in time. I didnt encounter any taxis but there was one car blocking the lane while dropping off passengers.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on December 18, 2012 at 5:04am

How do they do that?  Don't they realize what the bollards are for?

djm said:

I didnt encounter any taxis but there was one car blocking the lane while dropping off passengers.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on December 18, 2012 at 6:33am

There are a lot of good sized gaps between the bollards.  They probably do realize what the bollards are for but don't care. ;-).  The good news is that Gabe Klein said at the press conference that eventually the lane will be truly protected with concrete barricades between the traffic/parking and the bike lane.  Until then, we just have to hope the education and enforcement will reduce the incidents of cars pulling into the bike lanes.

Skip Montanaro said:

How do they do that?  Don't they realize what the bollards are for?

djm said:

I didnt encounter any taxis but there was one car blocking the lane while dropping off passengers.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on December 18, 2012 at 8:30am

This morning just before 8:00 same problem at Wacker.  As I was riding southbound over the bridge the southbound bike lane had a green signal.  I saw two cars turn left from Dearborn onto Wacker.  I had the red when I arrived at Wacker.  When the bike signal turned green a left turning car pulled forward to make the left turn on the red signal.  Another car behind that one did stop at the red arrow.

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