Update 8/20/24, 9:00 AM: Tragically, Joey Center, 27, the bike rider struck on 8/15 at Gross Point Road and Skokie Boulevard in Skokie, has died from his injuries, according to an August 19 Chicago Tribune report.
Yesterday Streetsblog discussed four bike crashes with injuries or fatalities reported over the last month in Chicago's near-northern suburbs of Morton Grove, Skokie, and Lincolnwood. Here's a recap:
• On Tuesday, July 9, at Dempster Street and Lehigh Avenue in Morton Grove, where the North Branch Trail crosses Dempster, a driver fatally struck Michael Rapp, 74, as he rode across Dempster.
• On Wednesday, July 24, at Gross Point Road and Skokie Boulevard in Skokie, a driver struck and critically injured Jewel employee Joey Center, 27, as he left work by bike.
• Also on the evening Wednesday July 24, around 9 PM, a turning hit-and-run driver failed to yield to a male cyclist crossing Touhy Avenue from the North Shore Channel Trail at McCormick Boulevard in Lincolnwood, causing a non-life-threatening injury.
• On Tuesday, August 6, around 10:30 PM, an eastbound driver hit CTA electrician Carlos Medina, 37, as he biked on Oakton Avenue between Central Park and St. Louis avenues in Skokie, and then another motorist fatally struck Medina and fled.
In light of these disturbing cases, you would hope that decision-makers in these three communities would be doing their best to create safer conditions for cycling, so as to avoid future tragedies. Sadly, that's not the case in Lincolnwood, according to bike advocates who notified Streetsblog about the disappointing outcome of a Village board meeting last Monday, August 5.
"They dismissed their previously agreed to plans for protected bike lanes on Pratt," local advocate Robert Keding said. The bikeway was supposed to run between Lincolnwood Drive (near Cicero Avenue and the Edens Expressway) and McCormick Boulevard (next to the North Shore Channel Trail). "I am shocked they had an eleventh hour meeting to change course."
Advocate Matt Jameson noted that because the Village board opted to not move forward with the project, Lincolnwood will have to relinquish millions of dollars in Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant money from the Illinois Department of Transportation. According to the meeting agenda, "Future improvements would be at 100% Village cost."
Ultimately the protected bike lanes were torpedoed, not because of any future engineering or construction costs, but because Not In My Backyard types were worried about driving, parking, garbage collection, and/or snow removal becoming less convenient. Public works staffers patiently explained why these things wouldn't be major issues, but some neighbors weren't convinced.
"Local residents believed the protected bike lane barriers would ruin the aesthetics of the street, lowering property values," advocate Robert Keding told Streetsblog. "In addition, they argued the lanes would create more congestion for motorists, delivery drivers, trash collection, etc. due to the narrowed road space for overtaking turning or parked vehicles. Public Works director John Welch acknowledged that was an intentional element of the proposed design since those overtakes are illegal and dangerous, especially in combination with the existing road conditions leading to excessive speeding, but to no avail."
Indeed, one person who testified at the meeting and described herself as an "avid cyclist" said she was opposed to converting any curbside parking to make room for protected bike lanes, partly because of how the PBLs would look. "I get that people who live on Pratt [in homes with driveways and/or garages] and have kids with cars need the extra spaces. Is it possible to have shared parking lanes and bike lanes?... First of all, I'm very opposed to any kind of concrete [bike lane] barrier. That would be a huge mistake aesthetically, and even safety-wise for drivers."
Obviously, concrete-protected bike lanes in the adjacent suburb of Evanston haven't caused any major aesthetic or motorist safety problems, but they have helped make that town much safer for cyclists. Meanwhile, if protected bike lanes had been available in nearby Skokie for bike riders Joey Center and Carlos Medina, perhaps their tragic crashes could have been avoided.
Here's another major factor in the board's decision to give back millions in grant money while choosing to make Lincolnwood streets more dangerous than they could be. This petition of opposition to the protected lanes, was signed by 147 residents from 93 households. But only a dozen of those households, fewer than one-seventh, are actually on Pratt and "directly impacted by the project."
"I hope you guys cover this," Matt Jameson told Streetsblog. "They are giving back grant money in response to residents who don’t even live along Pratt."
"The Lincolnwood decision is very disappointing and is part of a larger issue of our streets being dangerous by design," added Charlie Saxe, who's been advocating for sustainable transportation in Skokie and surrounding communities like Lincolnwood for several years. "The rash of recent crashes exposes a condition that has been existent for decades and is inherent in our culture of the auto-centric design of our communities. It shouldn't take the death and serious injury of our neighbors and friends to recognize and remediate this situation. Nonetheless, this is where we are."
Read a full discussion of the project in the meeting agenda, starting on P. 19.
Check out a video of Monday's meeting on the Village of Lincolnwood website. The segment about Pratt starts at 39:59 in the video.
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