Last week I took my first bicycle trip on the new, bike-hostile design of the recently rehabbed eastern section of the Chicago Riverwalk. There, and on the western section, built a few years ago, I was repeatedly flagged down or called after by security guards who told me that I couldn't ride on the promenade. They cited signs at the entrances to the facility threatening that bike riders will be prosecuted.
That's despite the fact that the riverwalk was originally promoted and funded as a cycling facility, and it appears as an off-street trail on the city's bike map. And although downtown alderman Brendan Reilly introduced an ordinance last September to ban biking on the promenade, it never became law, so the "No Biking" signs are invalid.
So today, in a bit of IRL trolling, I made a t-shirt stating why the current anti-bike enforcement policy is bogus and wore it while I cycled on the riverfront. "Hi there!" it reads. "Despite what the signs say, Alderman Reilly's ordinance to ban biking on the riverwalk (O2018-7034) never passed, so it's still legal. Thank you!"
As it happened, my cruise on the promenade at about 4 p.m. this afternoon, when there was a moderate amount of pedestrian traffic, was fairly uneventful. I passed a few guards, but two of them either didn't notice me or chose to ignore me, although a third one flagged me down. Here's how the (reasonably polite) conversation went.
John Greenfield: Hi.
Security guard: You can't ride your bike here. You have to walk your bike.
JG: Would you please read my t-shirt?
SG: [Reads t-shirt, looking mildly amused.]
JG: So, as you can see, it's legal to ride a bike on the riverwalk.
SG: You're only allowed to ride between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.
JG: That's a new one!
SG: Definitely. They changed the rules.
JG: 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Interesting. Well, anyway, it was never illegal to ride on the riverwalk. So thanks for the information, and I know you're just doing your job, but I'm going to keep biking. Have a good day.
SG: You can't, though...
Active Transportation Alliance director Ron Burke confirmed that he recently spoke with a representative from the Department of Fleet and Facility Management (F2M), which manages the riverwalk, and he was told that the guards would no longer be stopping cyclists from biking on the path before 9 a.m. (The riverwalk is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.)
Active Trans is advocating for a “Walk Bikes When Crowded: Ride Slowly Other Times” policy with no bans. That's a sensible approach, since there certainly are locations and times when you're better off walking your bike on the promenade, or at least riding it at walking speed.
But, as Burke noted, the riverwalk, especially the older eastern stretch, has been a useful car-free bike commuting route. Moreover, it sets a terrible precedent for the city to be arbitrarily deciding to ban cycling from riverfront paths, since Active Trans has been advocating for a continuous, 27-mile Chicago River Trail for biking as well as walking. If we allow the city to block cycling on the Chicago Riverwalk, what's to stop them from banning bikes from the next nice stretch of riverfront path that gets built?
Susan Mudd, an attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center uses the Lakefront Trail and the riverwalk to get to her Loop office, since she doesn't feel comfortable exiting the Lakefront Trail at Randolph Street to go downtown. The city built bike lanes on Middle Randolph west of the trail last year, but there's fast car traffic on the street, and their emissions get trapped in the subterranean-like space.
Mudd said she was "frankly shocked" by the reconfiguration of the eastern section of the riverwalk, which included turning a fairly broad, straight asphalt path into a zigzagging route with numerous bottlenecks. "The changes... occurred without notice or apparently an opportunity to give input on the Riverwalk’s redo." She said on some occasions the riverwalk guards have ignored her, but at other times they've scolded her for riding on the promenade.
Recently Active Trans has been brainstorming with Ross Barney Architects and Friends of Downtown on a solution for a low-stress bikeway on Upper Wacker Driver that would provide a safe alternative to the riverwalk. An advisory committee of more than twenty public and private sector entities, including Reilly's office, is also involved. This summer they'll be data and input. If you'd like to get involved with the project, contact Steve Simmons, steve@activetrans.org, 312-216-0472.
