The Chainlink

Opinions on? The 606 - Bloomingdale Trail * Fall Update

The 606 now enters Chicago's changing seasons ! Cyclists': It's now yours to enjoy !

Chicago's Season's - (Summer)May-Sept. (Fall)October (Winter)November-March (Spring)April. TRUE !

Updates - v

http://chicagoist.com/2015/08/05/bloomingdale_fail_hilarious_facebo... RECENT (funny)


http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-tour-of-chicagos-bloomingdale-trail-1...


http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83770433/


http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150609/NEWS07/150609775/he...


http://m.chicago.curbed.com/archives/2015/06/08/606-trail-photos.php a href="https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150606/humboldt-park/elevated-bloomingdale-trail-pulse-of-606-opens-massive-crowds">https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150606/humboldt-park/elevated-blo...


So what did you think of the 606 Trail & the opening day celebration?


http://www.thechainlink.org/events/the-606-opening-weekend-a-party-... < 606 OPENING CEREMONY CHAINLINK EVENT >


http://touch.redeyechicago.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83495063/


http://the606.org/events/openingday/


https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HNZU12lyzGrBphuXdYHb6aWGpq4a1QUFst...


http://touch.redeyechicago.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83465104/


The 606 Opening Celebration Participation, Saturday June 6th, 2015 at 8am till 9pm.

Cyclists: Join the Bike Procession organized by West Town Bikes to the 606 (Bloomingdale Trail) Grand Opening Celebration. Details and event posting soon to follow.

Join us on Saturday 6/06/15. Be among the first to experience The 606, Chicago's new park and trail system, over a decade in the making. Clear your calendar so you can celebrate all day with a series of joyful processions along the Bloomingdale Trail, a lively street festival on Humboldt Boulevard, and day-long fun at The 606 access parks: Walsh, Churchill Field, Park 567 at Milwaukee/Leavitt Ave and at Julia de Burgos Park.

In addition to enjoying the trail for the first time with your friends, family and neighbors, you can play a more active role in the festivities.

*Join a pre-planned procession
*Plan your own procession
*Host an activity booth at the festival site
*Volunteer with The 606 team

Learn more and sign up at: http://bit.ly/Join606Opening or visit The606.org

See you Saturday, June 6th, for the Opening Celebrations, and Sunday, June 7th, for a Community Pancake Breakfast at the Ridgeway Trailhead. All activities are FREE and open to the public. We can't wait to celebrate with all of you !

Tom A.K. - time is precious, our existence is short. LIVE YOUR LIFE !

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BTW, video by Steve Vance (via Streetsblog/vimeo) showing a mostly mellow ride from end to end, but including some startling needle-threading action at 2:21 and 3:22

I watched the video.  The path is way too narrow for the incredible density of cyclists, runner/joggers and pedestrians (including baby carriages) who are going to be competing for it.  This could make the north LFP look like a wide-open superhighway. 

That's way too narrow for anything but the slowest cruising, and would be pretty much impassible with real crowds. I like all the speedsters getting into narrow scrapes and the doofus that keeps tryign to pass on the right. If the weather's good I may check it out Sunday but while it's pretty I don't think you want to bike on it.

The 666 is brilliant.  I'm going to start using this term from now on. 

Maybe the $666,000,000 would be more like it. 

We have a number of threads that have had some pretty polarized viewpoints with regards to progress for cyclists in Chicago. I've been following them and at many times, wanting to chime in but I hesitate because I think dialogue about important topics is a good thing and I don't want to discourage it. We've been debating Active Trans, the city of Chicago, and the 606 (and bike paths in general). I don't want to dismiss the viewpoints because I think there are some good, thoughtful concerns about all of these topics - while we have come along way, we have so many more improvements we need to make. 

And that is part of what makes us such a great city for cyclists. I am SO excited for where we are heading - more bike lanes, more protected bike lanes,  the 606, a vibrant community of cyclists, an extraordinary local racing scene, Big Marsh, Cal-Sag, and I could go on and on. We are a part of the dialogue - so much so that we have a morning in which we can ride our bikes on LSD. We shouldn't dismiss events like Bike the Drive, Commuter Challenge, the Late Ride, etc. because these events are the introduction to thousands of people riding their bikes, commuting for the first time, and seeing cyclists as their own when they are behind the wheel of a car. 

Looking at what England (and specifically London) is dealing with - so many cyclists hit by cars and trucks every year, I appreciate how many riding options I have in my city. I am not saying it is flawless and we do see our own tragedy - we are not yet Holland. We are working to get there. Never resting on what we have, always looking to the future and how to make it better. That is why I think it is important to voice our concerns and express when we think something needs to be improved. It's the first step in getting the problem addressed. Gentle reminder - please remember to keep it a respectful, healthy debate.

So, the newly opened 606 - yes, it is crowded and it is a shared path. I agree, that is not ideal. The LFP makes me nervous because of all of the toddlers that run across my path - that alone gives me a heart attack. So I take it slowly until I get down to McCormick. We expect it to be bad because it's how people get to the beach. The 606 is busy too and that is incredible news - an investment was made to build this elevated path and it is a great success - already filled with people and it proves we need more. By being so packed with people, we have proved there is a huge need for more paths like it. Build these paths and thousands of people will take advantage of it. Maybe one day we will get our dream of a bike-only path. I consider paths like the 606 a step in that direction.  My dream is to have Chicago considered the "Holland of the U.S.". Between Active Trans, Chainlinkers, the city of Chicago, and the general cyclist community, we can get there. 

yasmine  HEAR HEAR!

race cars go on race tracks  to ride a bike as fast as you can, plenty of country roads available.

 

Meh.

I really can't even call the 606 a "bike path" no matter how it was packaged and sold to us by the marketers like ATA and other "pro-cycling" groups over the years of its planning and construction.

The path is ridiculously narrow for the amount of ped traffic it is going to carry on a skinny strip-land park like this (any amount of ped traffic really due to the curvy nature and folks walking 6-abreast like they are the only people in the whole world who might want to be on such a path.) Plus, any "bike path" that you must ride a sidewalk to get on to or off of, really isn't a bike path at all in any reasonable definition of the term. 


It's a nice walking path, that you can maybe ride a bike on very slowly and carefully around the zombie shamblers.  I wouldn't be surprised (or much disappointed) if the city eventually closed it to bikes entirely and made it pedestrian/strollers only.  I can see that handwriting on the wall already.

No real loss IMHO, other than the millions of dollars spent on it (ostensibly sold to us as a "bike path" expenditure)  that could have been much better used for actual transportation cycling infrastructure, i.e. real bike lanes and bikeways that actually go someplace, and can be used by bicyclists going more than 5mph.   If someone were actually trying to GET somewhere on the 606 in a reasonable amount of time for a real commute or going to the store, then it would take them forever, not to mention to the almost complete lack of access on or off of it. 

But it seems like a pretty park.  It should be for the many years and millions of dollars sunk into it so far (not to mention the inevitable large ongoing maintenance costs going forward.)  let's just hope that it doesn't turn into a mugging/assault fish-in-a-barrel hunting zone for the criminal element eventually. 

I agree.  For that kind of money, they could have built a few real parks in the area.  No way is this going to work for biking except perhaps in the wee hours of the morning.

I accidentally ended up on a piece of this Saturday afternoon (just rode from Marshfield to Hermitage.) I rode most of the way at walking speeds due to the crowds and was passed several times by cyclists who were treating pedestrians as practice cones. No idea how any pedestrian can enjoy theirself under these circumstances, especially with small children in tow... like a family stroll down the shoulder of the Kennedy with less noise.

I would fully support a ban on bicycles on this trail except maybe in wintertime.

How did you "accidentally" end up on the 606? ;)

A tenant's sink blew up and I had to make a trip to the Home Despot on North Ave. In my quest to stay off the deadliest streets I exited by The Hideout and took Elston to Cortland even though my destination was south.... took a left onto Marshfield and it was like "Oh Yeah, this thing." Fascinating, no? But wait, it gets even more interesting- shortly after I got on the trail I (fortunately) discovered that I'd securely bungeed my back fender against my back tire....

I was trying to take it easy too, and got passed by other folks on bikes coming from behind in some really harrowing circumstances.  While I waited behind some walkers for a clear/safe spot to pass, they instead just shoved through the crowd, forcing yet some other bikes coming towards us in their own lane to dodge off the path so the folks passing could push pushed right into them across the centerline.  This happened multiple times and I didn't even ride more than a mile or so of the path before getting back off.

People are jerks, on or off bikes -or in or out of cars.  They feel entitled to make a pass and not slow down even if it means drifting over the center-line directly into oncoming traffic to go around someone going slower than them.  Because hitting the brakes and waiting a couple seconds just isn't an option...

The 666 is a hell-path.  Too many people, too many bikes, not enough room.  You would think for nearly $100,000,000 for a 4-mile path there would be a little more room for everyone...

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