Eyes on the Street

Last year, Streetsblog USA's Angie Schmitt demonstrated how a new feature of Google Street View can be used to highlight street remix projects that have made cities more livable. Google now lets you look at archived Street View images, so it's easy to compare what streets looked like before and after they were reconfigured.

It goes without saying that it's bad when motorists park or stand their vehicles in crosswalks or bike lanes. Obviously, the former makes it harder for pedestrians to safely cross the street. The latter forces cyclists to merge into moving traffic to get around the obstacle, which can be dangerous for less experienced riders. It can also partially obstruct the travel lane, creating a hazard for other drivers.

Vincennes Avenue, which runs southwest from the 69th Street Red Line to the city limits, is one of the bike-priority Spoke Routes identified in the City's Streets for Cycling Plan 2020. Vincennes already had conventional bike lanes running from the train stop to 76th, and protected and buffered lanes from 84th to 103rd.

Earlier this summer the Chicago Department of Transportation implemented a complete streets overhaul on State Street between 69th and 79th, in Park Manor and Chatham, as part of effort to slow down car traffic and make the area friendlier to pedestrians. Located just east of the Dan Ryan, the street is essentially a frontage road, which drivers have treated as an ittension of the expressway.

First built in 1975, the Sunnyside Pedestrian Mall is a leafy, car-free walkway that runs for two blocks between Beacon Street and Magnolia Avenue in Uptown’s Sheridan Park section. With its benches, plantings, and mosaic-covered pillars, it should be a popular place for all kinds of positive activity, along the lines of Lincoln Square’s Kempf Plaza.

Note: Keating Law Offices, P.C. has generously agreed to sponsor two Streetsblog Chicago posts about bicycle safety topics per month. The firm's support will help make Streetsblog Chicago a sustainable project.

The Lakefront Trail. Milwaukee Avenue. The 606. And Clybourn Avenue?

I have a confession to make. When I wrote Monday's post about the brand new parking garage that billionaire developer Jennifer Pritzker opened at Sheridan Road and Sherwin Avenue in Roger Park, I hadn't actually checked it out in person.

[This article also runs in Checkerboard City, John's transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.]