The protected bike lane that was installed on Washington Street downtown in 2015 as part of the Loop Link bus rapid transit project improved safety for cyclists. But, due to ongoing construction on the new Washington-Wabash 'L' station, the bike lane ended abruptly just east of State Street, leaving cyclists to fend for themselves in mixed traffic.
The 'L' stop opened on August 31, and the Chicago Department of Transportation recently began work to extend the protected another full block east to Michigan Avenue. A concrete island is being added on the south side of Washington between State and Wabash to shelter cyclists and shorten crossing distances for pedestrians. Between Wabash and Michigan, a roughly 160-foot bus boarding island is being built on the south side of the street, which will double as concrete protection for the bike lane, said CDOT spokesman Mike Claffey.
According to Nicholas Smith, a strategic planner for the CTA who has been working with CDOT on the Loop Link rollout and closeout, unlike most of the Loop Link corridor, there will be no red bus-only lane on this stretch of Washington, and the bus island will not feature a raised-platform BRT station with a huge, rake-like shelter. Instead the island, which will serve one-to-three bus routes, will get one or two standard J.C. Decaux bus shelters. Smith added that the project includes new signal phasing at Washington/Michigan.
Neither Claffey not Smith had an immediate explanation for why this block isn't getting a bus-only lane or a standard Loop Link station. The good news is that, unlike Chicago's other BRT shelters, which feature a gap of several feet between the rear glass wall and the roof, the benches inside the smaller shelters will tend to stay dry when it rains.
H/T to Twitter user @elllvee for giving us a heads-up on this project.
