Streetsblog Chicago

Looking north at Milwaukee/Chicago/Ogden, Chicago's worst intersection for bike crashes, now covered with silky-smooth pavement. Photo by John Greenfield.

The Chicago Department of Transportation’s Milwaukee Avenue protected bike lane project, which will connect existing PBLs on Kinzie and Elston is rolling along at a rapid pace. Yesterday white thermoplastic stripes were visible in the central section of the project, which is not being repaved. After riding the street this afternoon, I’m pleased to report that the north and south sections of the strip, which have been an obstacle course of rough pavement and exposed manhole covers since repaving started last week, are now covered with a smooth layer of asphalt, and even some pavement markings. More striping has been added to the central section as well, so the bikeway design is starting to come into focus.

Steven Vance and I are especially looking forward to seeing the effects of new pavement markings, including dashed bike lanes, bike boxes and high-visibility, zebra-striped crosswalks, on bike, pedestrian and motorist safety at the Milwaukee/Chicago/Ogden intersection, which currently has the highest bike crash rate in the city. These treatments will likely be completed this weekend, and we expect the new design will immediately make this confusing intersection safer and less chaotic. We look forward to seeing the bike crash rate drop here in the future, even as the number of cyclists on skyrockets. Here’s a quick tour of current conditions on Milwaukee.

Looking southeast at Milwaukee and Carpenter. Buses will merge into PBL. Photo by John Greenfield.

Looking northwest at Milwaukee/Grand/Halsted. To the business owner at last month's community meeting who insisted a dedicated right-turn lane is needed for cars here, despite CDOT traffic counts indicating the opposite: sorry, but cyclists are getting a bike box instead. Photo by John Greenfield.

Looking southeast towards Milwaukee/Kinzie/Desplaines. The turn lane for bikes heading east onto Kinzie will now start further up Milwaukee. Photo by John Greenfield.

Looking southeast at Milwaukee/Ogden - a buffered lane is already rideable. Photo by John Greenfield.

It was quite a surprise to come upon fresh white thermoplastic stripes on Milwaukee Avenue Thursday evening. Many Chicagoans have been eagerly anticipating new protected bike lanes on Milwaukee, the city’s busiest bike street, which will be the missing link between existing PBLs on Kinzie and Elston. At a public meeting about the bike lanes at Intuit arts center on April 30, Chicago Department of Transportation staff said this stretch of Milwaukee would be repaved in May and the lanes constructed in June, pending continuing community outreach and final approval. At that meeting, a vocal minority of local business owners and residents complained about CDOT’s proposal to relocate about half of the street’s curbside parking spaces to side streets, as well as other details of the plan that they feared would make it harder to drive.

Last week crews began tearing up sections at the north and south ends of the project site for repaving. CDOT Spokesman Pete Scales said the department hopes to finish this work by this Monday. I recently noticed a few patches in the middle of this section had been recently patched, which seemed odd, since I was under the impression CDOT would be redoing the entire stretch. The new striping on this section indicates that this middle segment will not be completely repaved – no biggie, since the asphalt here is reasonably smooth. More importantly, new striping suggests that the PBL plan is now a done deal, and we can look forward to seeing the finished product sooner than later. We’ll get you more details on the status of the project soon; here’s a quick tour of what’s on the ground so far.

West side of Milwaukee south of Ogden. Photo by John Greenfield.

Continuing south on Milwaukee - a floating parking lane. Photo by John Greenfield.

Continuing south on Milwaukee. Photo by John Greenfield.

A contractor measures the street width on a section of Milwaukee north of Grand that is already partially repaved. Photo by John Greenfield.

The signal points to the center of the intersection. Photo: Kevin Zolkiewicz.

Kevin Zolkiewicz sent us these photos on Saturday showing the new pedestrian crossing signals pointing diagonally across the intersection of State Street and Jackson Boulevard, right outside DePaul University’s Loop campus. We’re waiting for confirmation from CDOT, but it looks like these signals are designed to work as part of an exclusive pedestrian phase — known as a pedestrian scramble or Barnes Dance — in which people on foot can cross the intersection in any direction. This treatment is common in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Tokyo.

Kevin writes that there appear to be small speakers above the new signals. We have an inquiry in with CDOT to find out more about what’s happening.

The small speaker above a diagonal crossing signal. Photo: Kevin Zolkiewicz.

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Before. Photo: Justin Haugens.

The Trattoria No. 10 restaurant at 10 N Dearborn Street installed their own “stop for pedestrians” signs (taped to bricks) on Tuesday in the middle of the two-way Dearborn bike lane. The Chicago Department of Transportation received notification via Twitter, to which they responded:

@justinhaugens Those signs should not be placed in the bike lane. We sent an inspector out, and the signs were removed. #bikechi

— CDOT (@ChicagoDOT) May 15, 2013

Trattoria made a quick adjustment and now the signs are placed on the outside of the bike lane, one on the sidewalk and one in a hashed area that the restaurant’s valet operator uses to load vehicles. Michelle Stenzel pointed out on The Chainlink that loading in this area is dangerous because it gets in the way of people’s sightlines: “there is an alley right there, and drivers of turning vehicles can’t see the bicyclists (and vice versa).”

This is the first warm weather period since the bike lane opened in December, and bike traffic is growing while the sidewalks become busier. When I was riding on Tuesday and waiting for the bike-only signal at Randolph, I turned my head to notice five people queueing behind me. While it’s important for cyclists to stay aware of people on foot and yield to pedestrians, these signs added unnecessary confusion.

Restaurant owner Dan Rosenthal told Streetsblog that he recognizes it was a mistake to put the signs in the bike lane, saying “our chef, who bikes, told us that’s dangerous. We put them on the sides to eliminate that hazard.” Rosenthal said they placed the signs there because “there are a lot of unsuspecting pedestrians that cross here, we want everyone to be safe.” He has sent a letter to Alderman Brendan Reilly asking for something to be done. “If the city would help correct this hazardous condition, it would be better for the bikers and better for my guests,” he said.

After. Photo: Justin Haugens

Yes, the ad actually says, "No booty call shall go unanswered."

On a recent trip on my “other bike,” AKA the ‘L,’ I spotted two advertisements promoting Zipcar that could have easily been converted into advertisements for bike-share. Car-share and bike-share serve different purposes, but there’s also some overlap — car-share providers want to capture some trips that you could also make on a public bike. With Chicago’s Divvy bike-share system set to launch soon, let’s see whether we can adapt these Zipcar ads to the bike-share context.

The first ad, above, says, “No booty call shall go unanswered.” Too saucy for a public bike system? Maybe, but there’s no doubt Divvy bikes can help you with that (and it’s cheaper than renting a car). Bike-share would also give you a bit more flexibility than Zipcar’s hourly rates, since the trip on Divvy would be free in each direction as long as you can pedal there in 30 minutes or less.

Zipcar marketing trades on the fact that car ownership is a hassle.

The smaller text in the same advertisement says, “Hundreds of cars and vans across Chicago are available by the hour or day. Gas and insurance included.” This part would have to change to advertise bike-share. The Divvy version could say, “Thousands of bicycles across Chicago are available for unlimited 30 minute trips around town, and you don’t have to pay for gas or insurance.”

The second ad, which I saw behind the seats, says, “It’s like owning a car without all the sucky parts.” Ah yes, sometimes owning the vehicle, even if that vehicle is a low-cost bicycle, has sucky parts. For Divvy, I’d propose, “It’s like owning a bike without all the sucky parts, like flat tires, rusty chains, and stolen seats.”

Divvy will launch in June with 75 stations in downtown Chicago and River North. A day pass will cost $7, less than one hour of driving a Zipcar (and that doesn’t include the cost of parking). An annual Divvy membership will be $75.

Finally, it’s good to see that these Zipcar ads, unlike some of the company’s prior campaigns (below), don’t disparage people who ride bikes or take transit.

Zipcar's old ads disparaged biking and transit instead of owning a car.

LED lights change colors every few seconds.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein held an event last Thursday to flip on the new LED lights overlooking the beautified Congress Parkway streetscape that was completed last year. I visited on Sunday evening to take a look at the lights.

Congress Parkway needed a lot of help to become a pedestrian-friendly street. John wrote in Newcity in June:

Before the rehab, the zooming cars, dearth of pedestrian facilities and abundance of grim buildings along Congress, like a Brutalist parking garage for federal employees and a windowless AT&T building, discouraged walking trips. But CDOT project director Janet Attarian says the agency did a number of things to improve safety for pedestrians and motorists alike, as well as making it a more appealing street to stroll.

Some sidewalks were widened, planter boxes and stone blocks were added to protect people from traffic, and brick crosswalks were installed along with pedestrian signals and countdown timers. The traffic lights for drivers are timed to give a green wave for motorists traveling at the speed limit of 30 mph.

These improvements will increase pedestrian safety by slowing traffic and keeping cars in their lanes. The next challenge on Congress Parkway is to attract some pedestrian-friendly ground-floor activity. Congress doesn’t have much going on: the LaSalle Blue Line station, a BP gas station, and a federal immigration office. Activity near State Street is a different story, as there are restaurants and Robert Morris University buildings up and down the street.

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Looking south along Sheridan Road. All of the airbags deployed in this Ford Escape.

A reader sent in these photos of a collision between two drivers at Belmont Avenue and Sheridan Road on Friday at around 5 p.m. — more evidence of the speeding problem on Chicago streets. Our reader wrote:

Rush hour plus Cubs traffic departing the area probably made for congested circumstances, yet it seems excessive speed was a factor in this double-exit-the-roadway crash. Note that both vehicles are on the sidewalk [both are pointing slightly north]. The blue car is the area in which people alight the express buses that run up Lake Shore Drive to Belmont.

Looking west across Sheridan Road.

We put in an inquiry this morning with the police department about whether anyone was injured in the crash and have yet to get a response. We also asked the Department of Transportation for an update on the speed camera program, including when and where the first ones will be installed. This area would be eligible to receive automated enforcement under the 2012 speed camera ordinance.

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Bike parking area at Morse. Photo: Justin Haugens

Last week, the Chicago Transit Authority finished construction of a partially-sheltered bike parking area on Lunt Avenue under the viaduct at the Morse Red Line station. The area is well-lit but surrounded by a tall fence with a single opening, on the alley. Instead of making the bike parking area more secure, this fence may actually decrease the perception of safety here.

I asked a few people who bike how they feel about this design; the consensus was that “the fence doesn’t make sense.”

Eboni Senai Hawkins, organizer of Red Bike and Green, said, “The fence would only make sense if it was completely closed in and there was some kind of attendant.” Having CTA staff nearby would also help, said Michelle Stenzel, co-organizer for Bike Walk Lincoln Park. “For my own physical safety, the important factor is always whether there are other people around who could help if trouble arises,” she said. ”So if there’s CTA personnel at ground level at this station somewhere close and they can see through the fence, then that increases the feeling of safety.”

Could the fence make bikes less secure? Gin Kilgore, a program manager with the League of Illinois Bicyclists, thinks so. ”It’s great to see so much more covered bike parking available at train stations, but it really does not add security,” she said. “Anyone can still go in and steal a bike; in fact, it probably provides more cover for people to do so.”

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The Humboldt Park speed indicator sign on Division Street, which we reported yesterday was broken, has been fixed. The sign currently displays the speed when a driver is traveling at exactly 30 mph and flashes the speed when the driver exceeds 30 MPH. According to a CDOT staffer, the sign will be adjusted to always show the speed and flash when a driver exceeds 30 mph. This video shows how it works. The sign is placed after the first pedestrian crosswalk – which is unmarked – in the Humboldt Park safety zone.

The sign indicates that the SUV driver is traveling 32 MPH.

The bike lane markings on eastbound Division are deteriorating rapidly, while the westbound markings, which were installed earlier, are not.

Pavement markings installed in 2012 in the Humboldt Park neighborhood to designate bike lanes and “Children’s Safety Zones” are quickly disappearing, less than six months after installation.

The buffered bike lane on Division Street was installed in two phases. The first phase striped four westbound blocks and two eastbound blocks in May. Those are holding up well. But the remaining two eastbound blocks, installed several months later between California Avenue and Rockwell Avenue, are fading at an alarmingly fast rate. Bicycle symbols have nearly disappeared, as well as substantial segments of the buffer. The second bike lane segment replaced an earlier, “fake” bike lane installed in 2011 as part of a research project examining the effects of different bike lane widths.

Additionally, two “SAFETY ZONE” stencils on California Avenue are rapidly disappearing (at North Avenue and Division Street). They are part of the speed camera program that will go into effect later this year. Nearby stencils on Sacramento Boulevard and on the park’s circular Luis Munoz Marin Drive are in excellent condition. The Chicago Department of Transportation was unaware of the marking problems with the bike lane and the stencils when we contacted them. One possible explanation is that they were put down on a day that was too cold for the markings to adhere properly.

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