Chicago Suburbs

Last week the Regional Transportation Authority announced a call for projects to help improve mobility for seniors and people with disabilities that may be eligible for federal and local grant money via an open competitive process.

The state, which has jurisdiction over the five-lane highway, is refusing to lift a finger to improve pedestrian safety, or even let the village make its own changes.

The northern suburb of Lincolnwood recently filled in the final gap in the Valley Line Trail, a paved multiuse path that runs from Sauganash to Skokie. The Weber Spur trail is also in the works.

Although the teen who struck them was previously ticketed for speeding, and marijuana was recovered at the crash site, so far he has received only one traffic citation. Meanwhile a wrongful death suit is moving forward.

Earlier this week the Chicago Transit Authority announced its proposed budget for 2017. Mayor Rahm Emanuel touted the fact that the budget "freezes" the $2.00 and $2.25 cash fare on buses and trains, respectively.

Streetsblog Reader and former Transport Notes blogger Alan Robinson contacted us on Monday, concerned that a poorly publicized change to Metra’s Union Pacific West Line schedule that started that day would lead to riders missing their trains. The line runs from the Ogilvie Center to the small town of Elburn, stopping at suburbs like Oak Park, Elmhurst, Wheaton, and Geneva along the way.

Last Sunday was the maiden voyage of the Active Transportation Alliance’s Kickstand Classic, a combination race and fun ride to support the group’s walking, biking, and transit advocacy effects. Thanks in part to absolutely perfect weather, the event, held in the northwest-suburban village of Bartlett, appeared to be a big success, which makes it seem likely it will become an annual happening.

Tragically, last week’s epidemic of bike fatalities and serious injury crashes in the Chicago region, has continued into this week. This morning a young woman was fatally struck by a flatbed truck driver in Roscoe Village. She was the sixth person to be struck and killed by a commercial vehicle driver while biking in Chicago and Evanston since June, and the third to be run over by a right-turning flatbed truck driver.

The Active Transportation Alliance is pioneering a new kind of biking event, a cross between a competitive race and a leisurely recreational ride, which could eventually turn into a significant fundraiser for their walking, transit, and bike advocacy efforts. The Kickstand Classic takes place in the morning of Sunday, September 25, in the suburban village of Bartlett, Illinois, southeast of Elgin. The starting line and post-race festival area will be located just south of the local Metra station.