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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 Lisa Curcio on February 25, 2013 at 9:26pm

I wonder if there is someone in the City who could urge these folks to not dump the snow where Streets and San have just cleared.  Streets and San have done a great job of keeping the bike lanes clear but there are those three buildings and a few businesses on the north side of Kinzie between Wells and Franklin that appear to think that the city has cleared those lanes so they can dump their snow in them.

I looked at the 311 site, and there is not really a category for this.  

Permalink Reply by Lindsay on February 25, 2013 at 11:31pm

I was just informed that the property manager for 353 N. Clark, Heather, can be reached at  HHolderm@tishmanspeyer.com

Anne Alt said:

353 N Clark is the right building.  The leasing/property management contacts would be a good place to start.  Perhaps emailing them the photo above and explaining why it is unacceptable for their maintenance people to block the bike lane with snow would get the message across.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Oops, I missed that too. 181 N Clark would be in the Loop, and this is just north of the river. I believe this building is 353 N Clark: http://goo.gl/maps/Qp73J

Permalink Reply by David P. on February 26, 2013 at 7:41am

I think that this is worth highlighting as a very good way to write such a letter.

Lindsay said:

I pretty much got that same photo this morning...
Steve Vance pointed me in the direction of this conversation. I've also noticed this issue by K Station. For 353 N. Clark, I emailed the leasing / property management folks the following: 

Hello,

I've been commuting in to my job in the loop on the Dearborn bike lanes since they were installed this season. I've noticed that CDOT goes to all this effort to plow the bike lanes, but certain buildings along the way clear their sidewalks and dump it into the bike lane. This makes riding a bike quite a challenge. Here was my view this morning (as posted on twitter): https://twitter.com/lindsaybanks/status/306061351145574402

Is there a particular person at 353 N. Clark who is responsible for snow clearing? It would be most appreciated if the snow could be piled up on the sidewalk or cleared so that it doesn't block bike traffic.

Thank you,
Lindsay
Permalink Reply by blair on February 26, 2013 at 9:15am

David - agree!  Setting a good tone from the start can do wonders.  Great example.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 26, 2013 at 9:19am

Well done! Thanks for sharing.

David P. said:

I think that this is worth highlighting as a very good way to write such a letter.

Lindsay said:

I pretty much got that same photo this morning...
Steve Vance pointed me in the direction of this conversation. I've also noticed this issue by K Station. For 353 N. Clark, I emailed the leasing / property management folks the following: 

Hello,

I've been commuting in to my job in the loop on the Dearborn bike lanes since they were installed this season. I've noticed that CDOT goes to all this effort to plow the bike lanes, but certain buildings along the way clear their sidewalks and dump it into the bike lane. This makes riding a bike quite a challenge. Here was my view this morning (as posted on twitter): https://twitter.com/lindsaybanks/status/306061351145574402

Is there a particular person at 353 N. Clark who is responsible for snow clearing? It would be most appreciated if the snow could be piled up on the sidewalk or cleared so that it doesn't block bike traffic.

Thank you,
Lindsay
Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on February 26, 2013 at 9:39am

It turns out that 140 S. Dearborn, the historic Marquette Building, is owned by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation. I emailed the foundation yesterday about the snow situation in the Dearborn lanes. This morning I saw these guys shoveling snow back out of the southbound lane and onto the sidewalk. The dude I spoke with was not happy about the situation which is understandable. I thanked him profusely about eleven times, but I'm not sure that cheered him up very much.

Permalink Reply by Lindsay on February 26, 2013 at 10:44am

Excellent! I noticed that the Dearborn lanes by 353 N. Clark were cleared today.

And I got this response from the property manager at 353 this morning; she has a good point - we wouldn't want to block the pedestrians either:

Good Morning Lindsay,

 

We are happy to support the city’s efforts to encourage more sustainable commuting practices.  Our standard practice for excess snow removal from the property is to have it immediately removed and hauled away to an offsite facility rather than piling snow along the curbs of the property making it difficult to access sidewalks from the street.  This procedure to ensure the surrounding pedestrian areas of the building are clear come at a rather significant cost to our tenants.  Unfortunately the excess snow you may have encountered in the bike lane may have been abandoned by the city as this is city property.  I am happy to place a call with 311 to request the immediate removal.

 

Kind regards,

Heather Holderman

Property Manager

353 N. Clark Street, Suite 2000

Chicago, IL 60654

312/445-5200 main

hholderm@tishmanspeyer.com

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on February 26, 2013 at 10:56am

So, they are basically saying "it wasn't us " and pointing the finger at Streets and San…

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on February 26, 2013 at 11:08am

On the contrary, Heather, the property manager of 353 N Clark Street is SPECIFICALLY saying no more or no less than what she articulated in her courteous letter to Lindsay.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

So, they are basically saying "it wasn't us " and pointing the finger at Streets and San…

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on February 26, 2013 at 12:12pm

I was contemplating the same question - who would be the right point person or organization to do some systemic education and/or advocacy with property owners along these bike lanes? Is there even such a person or organization? I think it's great for us, as individuals, to provide feedback, but having a big educational push would be beneficial as well.

Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

I wonder if there is someone in the City who could urge these folks to not dump the snow where Streets and San have just cleared.  Streets and San have done a great job of keeping the bike lanes clear but there are those three buildings and a few businesses on the north side of Kinzie between Wells and Franklin that appear to think that the city has cleared those lanes so they can dump their snow in them.

I looked at the 311 site, and there is not really a category for this.  

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 26, 2013 at 1:05pm

Unfortunately, the 311 web site isn't set up for every category of reports, just a selection.

Permalink Reply by Jack Crowe on February 26, 2013 at 2:59pm

So it's slush out there right now and there is a drain on this block, and some of the slush got shoveled at the trees. It is slush though, so if the shoveled it in my way while I was riding I would be irritated - it's not going to drain.

I took pictures anyway, Chase plaza, shoveling into the street. I wish I had the time to watch them and see if they would do it into the street on the South side.

Chicago doesn't seem to have any ordinances against shoveling into the street, but they recommend against it in their literature (it's unlikely many building managements have read it). I know I won't want to ride through 3 inches of slush. I could handle it if it was snow, but slush is pretty killer.

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