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First Cycletrack for Chicago’s South Side
Almost exactly a year ago, Chicago officials put paint to pavement for the Windy City’s first protected bike lane. The facility on Kinzie Street was just the start of the grand ambition of the new mayor — and DOT Director Gabe Klein — to create a network of 100 miles of separated bike lanes over the next several years.
Already, in the short time since the Kinzie lane was installed, bicycle mode share on that street has jumped from 22 to more than 50 percent. Last week the city took another step forward, rolling out seven more miles of separated facilities in a part of the city that, traditionally, hasn’t been served by bicycle infrastructure: the city’s South Side.
When I read the news from the Active Transportation Alliance, I immediately thought of Lacourdaire Camargo, a bicyclist who lives in Little Village, a predominantly Mexican-American community on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
A few months ago, I was working on a story for Momentum magazine about diversity in U.S. cycling and Camargo, like many others I spoke to, highlighted the need for equitable distribution of cycling infrastructure to encourage more folks from her neighborhood to ride. Working downtown, she recognized the growing ranks of urban professionals riding in to work, but very few of those folks were coming from the South Side. “Cycling is a bit more challenging on the south and west side of Chicago, because there really aren’t a lot of bike lanes or bike-friendly zones,” she said. “I feel that there’s a disparity.”
Thanks to the work of advocates and city officials that’s starting to change. According to Active Trans:
The South Side’s first protected bike lane is coming to life this week in Hyde Park. Crews are installing the lane between Cottage Grove and Lake Park, helping to connect residents of this bustling neighborhood with a direct route to the spectacular Washington Park. The lane also cruises past the University of Chicago campus, and a number of churches and schools. South Siders, you’re going to love it.
Will neighborhoods like Little Village be next in line? Stay tuned to the Active Trans blog for updates on the citywide bikeways campaign.
Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director
Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.
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July 2nd, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Still ignoring traffic engineering and elementary physics, eh?
“Let’s hide the bikes until they pop out at an intersection and surprise the motorists. Green paint will make it all wonderful.”
Cycle tracks are immoral lies. They suck people in by promising safety, but they produce extra danger. When are you going to warn people that they have to slow down at each driveway and street to watch for crossing cars? And that if they don’t they can be flattened?
And what ever happened to our right to the road?
July 5th, 2012 at 11:59 am
The cycletracks I saw in Bremen, Germany were accompanied by more complex traffic lights at intersections so that the protected bike lanes also had protected bicyclist crossing cycles. Design speed was relatively low, and Germany has legendary tough penalties for motorist infractions (recall Jan Ullrich lost his driver’s license for a year and was fined 70 days salary, and estimated 660,000 euros, for drunkenly hitting a bike rack with his Porsche).
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2002/jun02/jun12news
I think one has to address the whole enchilada in order for these facilities to work as advertised but if they do work, they certainly have a clientele, whether we “VC” advocates like it or not.
One does have to ask what happens at non-standard intersections, i.e., curb cuts, etc. What I have seen is separated facilities suffer when they have unmitigated hazards introduced since they obviously result in cyclists letting their guard down about traffic and vice versa.
The other question, what happens to roadway rights, is a good one that we have to ponder here in the States. In other words, what happens when the cycletrack ends? We will have to figure that out, since I think these facilities are here to stay.