Here’s a chance to have your say on what Chicago’s newest piece of bike infrastructure will look like.
The real estate company LG Development, in conjunction with the Chicago Department of Transportation, is planning to install a bike counter in front of a transit-oriented development they’re building at 1241 North Milwaukee in Wicker Park. They received three different proposals for the image panels of the counter, a vertical, rectangular device called an Eco-TOTEM, manufactured by the Montreal-based company Eco Counter, and they’ve asked Streetsblog to host the poll to pick the winner
The proposed designs include "Wicker Park/Bucktown" by Transit Tees, "Comic Book" by J. Byrnes from Fourth is King, and "1st Ward" by Clemente High School. You can cast your vote by clicking on one of the buttons below. The poll will be open until Saturday, April 30.
A display at the top of the bike counter will show the number of cyclists who have passed each day. A vertical display will show the total number of bike trips on the stretch for the year. As in other cities, the nearly real-time data will be posted on a website, and CDOT will also have direct access to the info.
While we already know that Milwaukee is one of the busiest biking streets in the nation, better quantifying this could help build support for reconfiguring the street in Wicker Park to make it safer for cyclists.
The new building, a stone’s throw from the Blue Line's Division Station, will include 60 rental units, six of which will be affordable, but only 15 car parking spaces. It will also feature at least 60 indoor, above-ground bicycle parking spaces, which will be accessible from the street via a bike-only ramp. The developer may use some below-ground space to double the number of bike spots. There will also be a pump and a work stand with tools for basic repairs.
The bike counter project, which includes building a curb bump-out to hold the device, will cost $40,000, of which LG Development is paying $30,000, according to LG partner Barry Howard. They have asked the public to chip in the remaining $10,000 via a crowdfunding site, which has raised about $3,100 so far. The goal is to install the bike counter this fall.
