Watch: Discussing 2024 CDOT bikeway wins, and where there’s room for improvement, at ATA’s Chicago Advocacy Connect event

The Active Transportation Alliance is Chicagoland’s most prominent sustainable transportation advocacy organization, and sort of the glue that unites other walking, biking, and transit booster groups around the region.

Earlier this month, ATA once again invited me to take part in a Chicago Advocacy Connect chat, talking about my recent Chicago Bike Lane Fest 2024 explorations. During this five-part series, I visited all the bikeways that the Chicago Department of Transportation installed last year, from Rogers Park, to Austin to the South Chicago neighborhood, and shared my findings with readers:

Check out Part 1: Uptown, Lincoln Square, West Ridge, Rogers Park, Edgewater here

Check out Part 2: Lincoln Square, Irving Park, and Albany Park here.

Check out Part 3: Portage Park, Irving Park, North Center, Avondale, Logan Square, Hermosa, Humboldt Park here

Check out Part 4: West Side here.

Check out Part 5: South Side here.

If you’re short on time, my segment on Chicago Bike Lane Week starts at 2:25 and runs through 18:20, with some additional Q & A later. But if time allows, you should view the entire hour-long discussion for useful info about other recent initiatives.

During my segment, I praised CDOT’s efforts in creating some nifty new facilities. These include the Berwyn Avenue Neighborhood Greenway from the North Shore Channel Trail to Lake Michigan; the protected bike lanes on Grand Avenue in West Town; and new protected lanes on 2.5 miles of Halsted Street from 59th Street to Pershing Road in Englewood and New City.

On the other hand, I noted that CDOT has a habit of building short snippets of protected bike lanes that aren’t particularly useful. And while it’s cool that the department piloted new raised bikeways in Austin and South Chicago, these brief stretches are basically just demonstration projects. But all-in-all it was another productive year for CDOT bike lane installation.

At the end of the Zoom chat, ATA’s Managing Director of Advocacy Jim Merrell, discussed some of the more pressing issues they’re working on. Some of the topics we’ve recently covered on Streetsblog include efforts to avoid the region’s looming $730 million transit cliff (including an interview with ATA Executive Director Amy Rynell about Climate Day at the Capitol), and the delayed City Hall effort to pass a 25 mph speed limit.

It was a fun, informative chat, so thanks again to the Active Transportation Alliance for hosting me.

ATA’s next Advocacy Connect online talk will be co-hosted by the statewide advocacy organization Ride Illinois, focusing on suburban Chicago issues, on Wednesday, February 19. RSVP here.

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