Milwaukee Avenue, the diagonal street that runs about 11 miles northwest-southeast between downtown and Superdawg Drive-In in the Norwood Park neighborhood, is Chicago's most important cycling street. It's got the highest ridership of any roadway in our city, and since it's the most direct route from the Loop to Wicker Park, Logan Square, and Avondale, some call it the "Hipster Highway."
Tragically, Milwaukee has seen more than its fair share of fatal bike crashes in recent decades. But the Chicago Department of Transportation has slowly-but-surely been making the corridor safer. Currently, there are protected bike lanes on Milwaukee from its southern terminus at Kinzie Street, almost all the way to the Logan Square traffic circle, minus a gap in Wicker Park, discussed in the map caption below.
Current 35th Ward alder Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, didn't sign off on CDOT's proposal for PBLs on Milwaukee northwest of the circle. But after he moves to a new gig leading the Chicago Park District soon, maybe his successor Anthony Quezada will extend the protected lanes into Avondale. (Construction of an 0.8-mile stretch of new PBLs is already planned on Milwaukee from Belmont Avenue to Addison Street in Ald. Ruth Cruz's 30th Ward this year.)
But I digress. The real raison d'être for today's Milwaukee mania is the purple segment on the above map, an 0.8-mile segment from Kinzie to Chicago Avenue, in Ald. Walter Burnett's 27th Ward. Today CDOT announced that this portion will be closed to through traffic, beginning next Monday, April 7, for an "arterial resurfacing and Complete Streets improvement project." The good news is, the work includes an upgrade to the existing concrete-protected bike lanes on this stretch. But the closure is supposed to last six weeks, well into prime biking season.
The project will include new bus boarding islands to allow CTA operators to pick up and drop off customers without having to leave the mixed-traffic lane, shortening travel times for passengers, while shortening crossing distances. Presumably, the islands will double as protection for the curbside PBLs, as shown below.
"During construction, local access will be maintained along Milwaukee Avenue," CDOT explained in a press release. "Flaggers will be onsite during working hours to direct traffic, with one direction maintained at a time as needed. During non-working hours, one lane in each direction will remain open. Periodic full closures will be required to complete certain work activities, and advance notice will be provided."
The department promises that signed detour routes will be in place for drivers and bike riders (and e-scooter riders).
Bike detours
Northbound to Milwaukee Avenue (Blue)
- From Milwaukee/ Kinzie/Desplaines, detour west on Kinzie, North on Peoria, west on Hubbard, north on Noble, back to northbound Milwaukee
Northbound to Elston Avenue (Purple)
- From Milwaukee/ Kinzie/Desplaines, detour north on Desplaines, west on Hubbard, north on Halsted, West on Chicago, to Milwaukee and Elston
Southbound from Milwaukee Avenue (Red)
- From Milwaukee, detour west on Augusta, south on Noble, east on Hubbard, south on Peoria, east on Kinzie, to Milwaukee/Kinzie/Desplaines
Southbound from Elston Avenue (Orange)
- From Milwaukee and Chicago, detour east on Chicago Avenue, south on Halsted, east on Hubbard, south on Desplaines, to Milwaukee/Kinzie/Desplaines
Motor vehicle detours
Northbound
- From Milwaukee/Kinzie/Desplaines, detour north on Des Plaines Street, west on Hubbard, northwest on Milwaukee, West on Grand, North on Ogden, back to Northbound Milwaukee
Southbound
- From Milwaukee Avenue and Chicago Avenue, detour south on Ogden Avenue, east on Grand Avenue, south on Des Plaines Street, to Milwaukee/Kinzie/Desplaines
Got any thoughts about the routing? Feel free to post them in the comments section.
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