The Lakefront Trail Really Is Open All Day, All Night

Have you ever been hassled by Chicago police officers while bicycling on the Lakefront Trail after parks officially close at 11 PM? You're not alone. Sebastian Huydts, who bicycles for most of his transportation needs, has been stopped twice this year -- most recently on May 13, at about 11:15 p.m. "They actually told me to stop with a bright light and asked why I was there," Huydts recently told Streetsblog. The police insisted that the park is closed after 11 p.m., telling Huydts "that you cannot use the path after that time, and that it wasn't safe anyways."

The Lakefront Trail is an 18-mile path used by tens of thousands of bicyclists on warmer days, and by many as a key commuting route throughout the year.

Huydts said that the officers weren't unfriendly, and that he wasn't mistreated. He countered the police, saying that riding home among drunk drivers on Kinzie Street would be far less safe. The officers asked for his destination (Montrose Avenue), and after talking amongst themselves, they "told me I was good to go -- but should exit as soon as I could."

The police officer on duty when I called the news affairs office said that he would look into what the rule is, and also how many bicyclists the department has warned, issued citations to, or given a contact card to.

The Chicago Park District, which owns and maintains the Lakefront Trail, said that the path is open at all times. Spokesperson Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said flatly that "the trail is open for ingress/egress after regular hours." The Chicago Department of Transportation deferred to the Park District for a response.

Maxey-Faulkner's answer that the path is open is in keeping with Park District code, which states that nobody can be in a park between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., "except that persons and vehicles may pass through such parks without stopping, on the more direct walk or driveway leading from their point of entrance to the exit nearest to their point of destination." This code appears to extend to trails through other large parks throughout the city.

Others have previously reported instances where a police vehicle parked squarely across the path, with the attending police officer ordering bicyclists to immediately exit the trail. Active Transportation Alliance said in 2010 that they would like to see better awareness of the overnight trail use policy. This policy should be conspicuously posted along the path, and communicated to the police units who patrol the trail.