Streetsblog Chicago

Clybourn, a couple blocks northwest of the crash site. Photo: John Greenfield

This February, Steven Vance reported that the Illinois Department of Transportation has been prohibiting the installation of protected bike lanes on state jurisdiction roads in Chicago at least until the Chicago Department of Transportation collects three years of “safety data” on existing Chicago protected lanes. That means the earliest the ban would be lifted would be July 2014, three years after Chicago’s first protected lanes opened on Kinzie. IDOT is not blocking installation of buffered lanes.

IDOT’s anti-protected lane policy came into sharp focus after cyclist Robert “Bobby” Cann was fatally struck by an allegedly drunk, speeding driver, on Clybourn Avenue, a state jurisdiction street, on May 29. Chicago’s Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 designates Clybourn as a bike-priority “Spoke Route,” and the street is wide enough for protected lanes. Had IDOT not been blocking protected lanes on Clybourn, it’s possible that the city would have built them prior to the crash.

The circumstances of Cann’s death are still unclear and, since the crash may have happened in an intersection, it’s not certain that PBLs would have shielded Cann from an out-of-control driver. However, protected bike lanes on Clybourn could definitely help prevent similar tragedies. Since protected lanes are off the table, CDOT has announced plans to stripe buffered lanes, which do not shield cyclists from cars, on Clybourn from Division to Belmont, with construction likely starting this week. IDOT is cooperating with the project.

IDOT Project Engineer Aren Kriks, second row, center, at last week's meeting. Photo: John Greenfield

At last Wednesday’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting at City Hall, attorney Brendan Kevenides (a Streetsblog Chicago sponsor) asked IDOT Project Engineer Aren Kriks why his department is prohibiting protected bike lanes on streets like Clybourn, despite evidence from other cities that protected lanes improve safety for all road users. CDOT Deputy Commissioner Luann Hamilton was involved in the discussion, as was I. Here’s a transcript.

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Ghost Bike memorial to Bobby Cann the 1300 block of North Clybourn. Photo: John Greenfield

Last Thursday, about a week after the May 29th death of cyclist Robert “Bobby” Cann, killed by an allegedly drunk, speeding driver at Clybourn and Larrabee, the Chicago Department of Transportation announced plans to stripe buffered bike lanes on the entire 3.5-mile length of Clybourn, from Division to Belmont. Construction should start either this week or the following week, according to CDOT spokesperson Pete Scales.

According to police, Ryne San Hamel, 28, had a blood-alcohol content of .127 and was driving his Mercedes sedan at 50 mph when he struck Cann, 25, on the 1300 block of North Clybourn. San Hamel has been charged with reckless homicide, aggravated DUI, misdemeanor DUI, reckless driving, and failure to stay in the lane. Bail was set at $100,000; the driver has posted $10,000 and was released from police custody.

Several memorials and tributes have been held in honor of Cann, a Groupon employee widely described as a safe cycling advocate. Cann’s coworkers recently started a memorial Groupon that has raised over $40,000 for the Active Transportation Alliance’s Neighborhood Bikeways Campaign, which advocates for protected bike lanes. The Groupon was scheduled to end yesterday but has been extended. Bob Kastigar, a longtime Chicago bike activist and Critical Mass rider, launched a petition drive asking that the county’s top prosecutor, Anita Alvarez, send the case to court instead of making a plea bargain; Kastigar mailed Alvarez a 432-page printout with 5,274 signatures, which arrived yesterday.

Bobby Cann. Photo: Groupon

I got the news about the bike lanes from a RedEye article that described the lanes as “protected,” which highlights the confusion caused by CDOT reclassifying buffered lanes as “buffer-protected” last year. Rahm Emanuel’s 2011 transition plan called for building 100 miles of protected lanes in his first term, defining protected lanes as sitting “between the sidewalk and a row of parked cars that shield cyclists from street traffic.” Last year CDOT changed that definition so that “buffer-protected” lanes, could be counted towards the hundred-mile protected lane goal; parking-protected lanes were renamed “barrier-protected.” For the rest of this article I’ll use the standard, nationally accepted definitions of protected and buffered lanes.

In February, Steven Vance discovered that the Illinois Department of Transportation has been prohibiting the installation of protected lanes on state jurisdiction roads in Chicago at least until CDOT collects three years of “safety data” on existing Chicago protected lanes. That means the earliest than ban would be lifted would be July 2014, three years after Chicago’s first protected lanes opened on Kinzie. IDOT has not blocked installation of buffered lanes.

Because of this ban, installing 100 miles of protected lanes by 2015 became less likely, so it’s understandable that CDOT adjusted its 100-mile goal to include buffered lanes, but it was a mistake for the agency to change the definition of “protected” lanes to include facilities that are merely paint on the road. While real protected lanes provide a physical barrier to prevent reckless drivers from crashing into cyclists, buffered lanes don’t, and the two should not be confused.

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Tips for Motorists posted in an apartment mail room. Photo: Shaun Jacobson.

Since the third week of May, 1.55 million Chicagoans (!) have received a double-sided leaflet called “Tips for Motorists” informing people how to “make our streets safer for everyone.” The mailing, sent by the City Clerk’s office with the car sticker renewal form, was three years in the making and likely has the lowest cost of any outreach that the Chicago Department of Transportation has ever initiated. CDOT paid $8,000 for printing and contributed about $1,000 in postage fees, according to bike and pedestrian safety manager Charlie Short.

Many Streetsblog readers reported receiving it – yes, they drive cars, too. Having drivers also bike is a key part of bicycle culture and safety. In the Netherlands, most drivers also bike at least once a week, so they know how to drive safely around cyclists.

CDOT’s flyer clears up a lot of issues related to the core question, “What am I supposed to do around a bicyclist or a pedestrian?” It counsels drivers to check for cyclists before opening their car door, to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, and other common-sense safety steps that too often go unobserved.

The mailing fulfills part of the Bike 2015 Plan (“Integrate more ‘Share the Road’ material into driver education materials“). Short says he hopes to use a successful mailing with the City Clerk’s office as a way to get the Secretary of State to do something similar. Similar material could go out in license renewal notices to all Illinoisans.

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CTA rendering of bus rapid transit on Ashland - the curbside lane is parking.

At a meeting in January about the city’s bus rapid transit proposal, hosted by a consortium of chambers of commerce and community development groups on the Near West Side, business owners panicked that the elimination of car lanes for BRT, as well as most left turns, would destroy their livelihoods. Now that consortium, re-christened as the Ashland-Western Bus Service Coalition has come up with a watered-down alternative plan they’re calling Modern Express Buses, which would keep transit riders and drivers alike mired in the same old traffic mess.

MEB would merely involve bringing back the old X9 Ashland Express, with traffic signal prioritization and bus stops located at the far side of intersections to facilitate right turns by cars, plus a few cosmetic changes. The group, led by Roger Romanelli, executive director of the Randolph/Fulton Market Association, claims it spent six months analyzing BRT in Chicago and other cities before coming up with its weak-sauce proposal. If that’s really the case, the group is being willfully ignorant about the huge improvement BRT will be over the old express buses.

Like BRT, the X9 made limited stops, but that was the only difference from conventional bus service. During peak hours the express buses were also bogged down by the glut of private automobiles on Ashland and, since they ran curbside, they were delayed by parking cars, taxis picking up and dropping off passengers, and double-parked vehicles. The average rush-hour speed of the X9 was 10.3 mph, only 16 percent faster than the 8.7 mph local buses.

The Ashland BRT will be an entirely different animal than the X9. In addition to limited stops and signal prioritization, the dedicated, center-running lanes mean that buses will have a clear path, unobstructed by private autos. Prepaid, level boarding of passengers from rapid-transit-style stations in the median, plus the elimination of left turns, will further speed the buses.

As a result, the CTA is projecting an 83-percent increase in average rush-hour bus speed over the locals, to 15.9 mph, along with a 46-percent increase in bus mode share, to 26 percent of all trips. And while those bus lanes will replace general traffic lanes, the agency is predicting only a 4.9-percent decrease in average speed for other vehicles on Ashland, since many people will choose to swap car trips for fast bus trips. The turning prohibition won’t be a hardship for drivers, since it will be easy to plan routes that don’t require left turns from Ashland.

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Last year the Chicago Department of Transportation reconfigured Fullerton Avenue between Cannon Drive and the lakefront to make it easier for cars to enter southbound Lake Shore Drive, at the expense of pedestrians and bicyclists. To make room for a dedicated right-turn lane and a second on-ramp lane, CDOT eliminated the south sidewalk of Fullerton, which previously served as a safe (just 2 bike crashes and 0 pedestrian crashes from 2005-2011), direct route for people on foot and bikes (since it was a de-facto multiuse path) heading east to the Lakefront Trail.

Walkers and bikers heading to the lake now have the option of crossing to the north side of Fullerton in a crosswalk west of Cannon, walking east across Cannon, and then proceeding east to the beach on the north sidewalk, which has been widened to 20 feet. The wider sidewalk is an improvement over the old 13.5-foot sidewalk on the north side, but it only reclaims about half the space that was taken from pedestrians when the 13.5-foot sidewalk on the south side was eliminated.

The northwest corner of Fullerton and Cannon, looking east. All pedestrian and most bicycle traffic is funneled to the north sidewalk of Fullerton, because the south sidewalk was removed east of Cannon.

Alternately, from the southwest corner of Fullerton/Cannon, walkers and bicyclists can proceed east across Cannon and use a very circuitous, ramps-and-underpass route to the north sidewalk. A third option for cyclists is to pedal east in the street, but this is dangerous because there are now two lanes of cars turning south onto LSD. Other changes include the removal of the crosswalk from the eastern leg of Fullerton/Cannon, and the creation of two left-turn lanes for southbound drivers on Cannon turning east onto Fullerton.

The new configuration was designed during the Richard M. Daley administration, back when the city’s complete streets policy consisted of a single sentence. It would fail to meet several of the standards of CDOT’s Complete Streets Chicago design guide, which was released in April.

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Barba Yianni's sidewalk cafe is a relaxing spot because there is no speeding traffic nearby, thanks to the Lincoln Avenue road diet. Photo by John Greenfield.

Business owners in Lincoln Square are whining that the upcoming Lawrence Avenue streetscape, which involves removing travel lanes, will cause traffic jams and hurt sales. The irony is, they’re currently reaping the benefits of a longstanding road diet on Lincoln Avenue. The new project will transform Lawrence between Clark Street and Western Avenue from it’s current status as a four-lane speedway with narrow sidewalks to a safer, more pleasant, more economically viable corridor.

The streetscape involves a “four-to-three conversion”: through lanes will be eliminated in each direction and replaced with dedicated left-turn lanes and bikes lanes – currently there are only shared-lane markings on this stretch. Sidewalks will be widened from nine feet to twelve feet, and high-visibility crosswalks, pedestrian refuge isalnds, and curb bump-outs will make it easier to cross the street.

Chicago Department of Transportation traffic studies indicate that the changes won’t worsen congestion. Instead, the lane removal will discourage speeding, and the turn bays will keep turning vehicles from blocking through traffic. CDOT is also adding longer green signal times on Lawrence and a left-turn arrow at Damen Avenue to facilitate traffic flow.

CDOT rendering of the Lawrence Avenue Streetscape.

In addition to creating safer conditions for walking, biking and driving, the road diet will encourage people to spend their money at shops and restaurants along Lawrence. It will make this stretch, currently a bleak, car-dominated roadway, much more appealing to pedestrians and cyclists, and by slowing down motorized traffic it will make it more likely drivers will notice the storefronts. The wider sidewalks will also allow restaurants to have sidewalk cafes, which will increase their capacity and make the strip more lively.

Last month at a meeting between CDOT staff and local merchants to discuss the streetscape, Carol Himmel, co-owner of Himmel’s restaurant, 2251 West Lawrence, said she’s excited about being able to add a café, according to a DNA write-up. This will be a boon for her bottom line because outdoor seating is crucial for attracting customers during Chicago’s rare warm-weather months.

However, the DNA piece quoted twice as many local merchants wringing their hands that the road diet will jam traffic on Lawrence and sap their customer base. “I’m not excited. I think they’re going to have terrible problems with traffic,” said Louise Rohr, who owns of Fine Wine Brokers, 4621 N. Lincoln Ave.

“I’m concerned about Lawrence already as it is,” said Anas Ihmoud, who manages the Greek restaurant Barba Yianni, 4761 N. Lincoln Ave. “People will avoid Lawrence and that will mean less exposure to Lincoln Square. Lincoln Square is becoming a destination. We’ve created such a brand for people to come, but is it accessible?”

Yes, Mr. Inmoud, Lincoln Square is a shopping, dining and nightlife destination, and you know what has been one of the biggest factors in making it one? A road diet.

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A memorial for Bobby Cann on Clybourn Avenue.

Robert “Bobby” Cann was cycling on Clybourn Avenue last Wednesday when he was hit and killed by Ryne San Hamel, 28, of Park Ridge, driving a Mercedes sedan at 50 MPH, with a blood-alcohol content of .127, according to police. San Hamel appeared in court on Saturday where he was charged with reckless homicide, aggravated DUI, misdemeanor DUI, reckless driving, and failure to stay in the lane. He is being held on $100,000 bond and had his passport revoked.

Attorney Mike Keating provided an excellent summary of what these charges mean on his blog:

Reckless homicide is when a person unintentionally kills another person while behaving recklessly. Unintentionally means that there was no criminal intent to kill the person. Reckless means that the person was acting with total disregard for the safety and welfare of others. The difference between a murder charge and a reckless homicide charge is the idea of “criminal intent” and whether the person was actually setting out to kill the other person. Keep reading.

Critical Mass visits the crash site.

On Friday evening, the monthly Critical Mass bike ride passed by a memorial to Cann. Riders raised their bikes in a salute to Cann, held a moment of silence, and then applauded.

On The Chainlink, a discussion has started about the significance of pushing for protected bike lanes across the city, as well as blaming the driver for choosing to get behind the wheel while drunk. The question is, if San Hamel had a BAC of less than 0.08, the legal limit, would he still be blamed for the crash? Would it have just been an “accident” that protected bike lanes might have prevented? A barrier is the only way to protect a bicyclist from a car traveling at 50 mph, whether the driver is drunk or sober.

San Hamel is scheduled to appear at the Cook County courthouse at 26th and California on July 17 at 9 a.m., and 18th District police officers are seeking volunteer court advocates. A post on Velocipede Salon explains that this means “the police coordinate with concerned citizens who appear in court to show their support for the case. The sense is, when the community gets involved it sends a signal to the judge that this isn’t ‘just another DUI’ and helps to encourage stricter sentencing.” You can contact the 18th District CAPS officers at 312-742-5778 for more info. Updated: More details on The Chainlink from Active Transportation Alliance’s Jason Jenkins.

Bob Kastigar, a longtime Chicago bike activist and Critical Mass rider, has started a petition demanding that the county’s top prosecutor, Anita Alvarez, send the case to court instead of making a plea bargain. People from around the United States, and one from Canada, are signing on to have San Hamel stand “in open and public court.”

As it stands, the Chicago Department of Transportation can not install protected bike lanes, which shelter cyclists from out-of-control cars, on Clybourn. This is because the Illinois Department of Transportation has prohibited the installation of protected lanes on state jurisdiction roads until CDOT collects three years of “safety data” on existing Chicago PBLs. IDOT has not blocked installation of buffered bike lanes.

Perhaps responding to our coverage of the crash, which mentioned the PBL issue, and/or online discussions that followed on venues like The Chainlink, on Friday IDOT tweeted a two-part message that they support CDOT’s efforts to install buffered lanes on Clybourn.

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The new pedestrian scramble at State and Jackson. Photo by John Greenfield.

When I visited Tokyo a few years ago, one my favorite aspects of the city was the “pedestrian scramble” intersections I encountered in the bustling Shinjuku and Shibuya neighborhoods. When the all-way walk signals activated, it was a thrill to see all motorized traffic come to a halt while what seemed like thousands of peds flooded the intersection. It seemed to send a message that people on foot are just as important as people in cars.

I got that same feeling of happiness this morning during the launch of an all-way pedestrian crossing pilot downtown at State and Jackson. On a typical weekday, the intersection, the site of DePaul’s Loop campus and John Marshall Law School and an important commuting crossroads, sees 41,600 pedestrians crossings but only 20,500 vehicle crossings, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. It certainly makes sense to reconfigure the junction to prioritize foot traffic.

Pedestrian scramble at Shibuya Station, Tokyo. Photo by Chensiyuan.

“This new all-way crossing will improve the pedestrian environment and vehicular timing at this very busy downtown intersection,” said CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein. “Chicagoans and visitors will be able to cross on foot more quickly and safely while all vehicular traffic is stopped. This is part of our strategy to eliminate as many conflicts as possible for everyone’s safety and enhanced vehicle throughput as well; a win-win.”

As part of the project, the intersection received high-visibility, zebra-stripe crosswalks on all four legs, as well as X-shaped diagonal crosswalks, plus diagonal-facing walk signals. To prevent conflicts, all vehicles are prohibited from making turns, at all times. Accordingly, the CTA’s northbound #151 Sheridan and eastbound #130 Museum Campus buses will alter their routes to eliminate turns at this intersection.

During the pedestrian scramble phase, all vehicles, including bicycles, are stopped for 35 seconds. The timing is designed for maximum synchronization with traffic signals at nearby intersections, according to CDOT. To help pedestrians, motorists and cyclists navigate the new configuration, traffic control aides will be stationed at State and Jackson for at least a week, Klein said.

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Looking northwest at the Infiniti car. Photo: Jon Kobiljak, via DNA Info.

Police are questioning the driver of a Mercedes who was involved in a head-on collision with an Inifiti and then fatally struck cyclist Robert “Bobby” Cann, 26, from behind. The crash took place while the Mercedes driver and Cann were traveling southeast on Clybourn Avenue near Larrabee Street in Old Town. The driver, who stayed on the scene, is in policy custody but any charges have yet to be filed, pending an investigation, according to Police News Affairs. Police have not released the driver’s name, but DNAinfo reports that he is 28 years old.

Marcus Moore, owner of Yojimbo’s Garage, a bike shop (the building with the red door in the photos), didn’t see the crash, but helped the three occupants of the Mercedes exit the car. He said they did not appear injured. While Moore was helping them out of the car, someone on the sidewalk said, “Where’d the bicyclist go?” It was then that he realized a cyclist was involved and saw Cann lying in the street 40 feet from the damaged cars, with his leg severed and blood coming out of his mouth, he said.

Overhead view of the Mercedes on Clybourn Avenue. Photo: Jon Kobiljak, via DNA Info.

Moore believes the driver of the Mercedes rear ended Cann, after which Cann landed on the hood and collapsed the car’s windshield. He said it’s possible the crash occurred in the intersection of Larrabee and Clybourn, or within 20 feet. Cann worked at Groupon on Larrabee/Kingsbury a half-mile south. Given that it was after work, and Cann lived in Lakeview, Moore believes Cann was cycling north on Larrabee before the crash and that the impact happened within the intersection, though he ended up lying on Clybourn.

The car-bike crash might have been avoided if this stretch of Clybourn had protected bike lanes. The Chicago Department of Transportation has proposed building protected lanes on Clybourn. However, Clybourn is an Illinois Department of Transportation-jurisdiction street, and IDOT has instituted a ban on PBLs on roads that fall under its jurisdiction until 2014, when three years of “safety data” on existing Chicago protected lanes becomes available.

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CNT staffer Emily Robinson shows off an electric car in IGO's fleet. Photo: Nicole Gotthelf/CNT

IGO Car Sharing, owned and operated by the not-for-profit Center for Neighborhood Technology, was acquired by Enterprise, traditional car rental company, earlier this week for an undisclosed amount. Enterprise has its own car-share system, but the company will keep the IGO brand in Chicago.

IGO CEO Sharon Feigon sent out a press release yesterday to members, saying, “With IGO and Enterprise’s combined carsharing expertise, along with the injection of Enterprise’s financial and fleet resources, we will be able to provide an even higher level of service for our proud member community and continue our mission to help people live well without having to own a car.”

IGO competes with Zipcar and its nationwide network, and a major benefit of the buyout is that IGO members will have access to the Enterprise CarShare network nationwide (a discount on Enterprise traditional rental cars was already offered). Enterprise CarShare tends to be located near universities but it has a wider presence in New York City and smaller cities. The Enterprise CarShare website already lists IGO as a partner in Chicagoland (cars are available from IGO in Evanston, Berwyn, and Oak Park).

The household financial incentives to substitute car-sharing for owning a car continue to intensify. The American Automobile Association pegs the cost of car ownership at $9,100 per year, up from $8,900 last year. Meanwhile, IGO hourly pricing hasn’t changed in two years.