IDOT Wants Your Feedback on the Statewide Bike Plan

The Illinois Department of Transportation is heading toward its winter goal of completing the statewide transportation bike plan. A meeting in Chicago this July led to a slightly tense discussion about IDOT's ban on protected bike lanes, during which a staffer deftly tempered the mood by saying, "We used to focus only on highways… you’re right, but we have been given direction to focus on all modes. We’re trying as a department to move away from old cultures."

IDOT yesterday launched a website that collects geographically-specific feedback on the bike plan, a new part in their public involvement process. The website, built on the emerging MetroQuest public participation platform, asks people to pinpoint where "intersection design impedes cycling," "lack of bikeways," and areas that need better links. It also lets users note which of the state's proposed bikeways they support, and mark routes with your preferred start and finish points that you think they should consider.

The survey will be online until November 12.