I'm not sure what the Chicago Department of Transportation has been smoking lately, but they've cleverly proposed installing a contra-flow bike lane on a northbound stretch of Glenwood Avenue in Edgewater. Southbound cycling is already common here because Glenwood is a safer, more relaxing alternative to nearby Clark Street and Broadway.
At a recent community meeting on the project, some neighbors expressed fears that encouraging "wrong-way" cycling will lead to more crashes. However, contra-flow lanes installed nearby on Berteau Street, Ardmore Avenue, and Albion Avenue have reduced the number of bike crashes, because they encourage cyclists to ride predictably, and give drivers a heads-up that they should watch for bikes coming from the other direction.
Learn more about the neighborhood route proposal here. To make sure the project doesn't go up in smoke, be sure to contact 48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman and let him know you support it.
