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Chicago adds buffer for bikes

Posted by Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel on July 26, 2011

cycling

Cyclists in Chicago celebrated the ribbon-cutting on Monday for a bike lane protected from traffic with plastic posts and a parking lane, a beefier version of the cycle track being installed on Bay St. in Milwaukee.

The bike lane, on a half-mile stretch of Kinzie Street, is similar to protected bikeways praised by riders and criticized by motorists in New York and other cities. The project in Chicago cost $140,000 and is part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposal to install 25 miles of protected bike lanes each year.

The Milwaukee version will be a section of raised pavement to differentiate the bike lane from the traffic lanes.

6 Comments for "Chicago adds buffer for bikes"

  1. "criticized by motorists" Why? Because it reduces traffic congestion, but causes drivers to be more careful and eliminates one of the many ways they kill people.

    Walktime Jul 26, 2011 11:53 AM

  2. Congratulations Chicago. I absolute love the idea of bike lanes being "protected from traffic with plastic posts." Wish we could have something more visual like this here in Milwaukee. I bike commute regularly from the West Suburbs to the East Side, and daily I am threatened by motorists who insist on driving their cars/trucks in the very clearly marked bicycle lanes!! I've been met with nothing but rude finger gestures when telling a motorist to get in their own lane. Seriously...

    AngelaB Jul 26, 2011 12:08 PM

  3. Walktime:

    No one is delusional enough to believe these bike lanes will reduce traffic congestion in Chicago, but that's not their purpose anyway.

    Their purpose is to make cycling in the city a bit safer than it is, and I think everyone realizes, whether they publically admit it or not, that it will come at the expense of vehicle traffic.

    Simple common sense dictates that if you pinch already-tight roads to create dedicated bike lanes you create additional problems for traffic in the process.

    BigJim Jul 26, 2011 12:36 PM

  4. Neat! The progress of MKE's bike infrastructure as of late has been really impressive.

    Modra Jul 26, 2011 12:39 PM

  5. Bigjim, intelligent and complete infrastructure IS intended to reduce
    congestion.
    "Another city survey found that bicycles accounted for about 48 percent
    of the morning rush-hour traffic on southbound Milwaukee at Kinzie."

    More cycling or walking (even if it's people riding 1 day/wk to work, or
    purposely parking farther away in dense areas) reduces congestion.
    Alternative designs that share roadways between bikes and cars, besides
    being more dangerous, can actually be more congested as cars change
    lanes more frequently. Finally -- this is more complicated than we have
    time for, but I suggest reading the book "Traffic" -- adding driving lanes
    (or removing them) often doesn't have the "common sense" affect that
    we might think, as people change their driving habits (timing and route
    selection) when faced with less choices in a way that, counterintuitively,
    can actually reduce traffic.

    madcoca Jul 26, 2011 2:29 PM

  6. This sort of improvement is a great way to encourage people to get out on their bikes. While bike lanes are great, increasing "subjective safety" by segregating cyclists from traffic is the only way to make cycling more mainstream.

    http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2008/09/three-types-of-safety.html

    beauss Jul 27, 2011 1:01 AM

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