Bike Lane Blockage

Ald. Daniel LaSpata announced that Chicagoans can hold bikeway blockers accountable by creating a 311 service request that includes photos of the vehicle obstructing the lane and its license plates.

Bike lanes recently installed on Clark St. in Edgewater are still experiencing frequent blockages. We look at bike lane designs in other cities that might be a better alternative to the current Clark St configuration.

While the new advisory focuses on parking in fire lanes and emergency exits, as well as parking placard abuse, the IG's office says it's also interested in sidewalk, crosswalk, and bike lane violations.

Streetsblog reader Dries Kimpe tipped us off yesterday about yet another case of construction creating hazardous conditions for cyclists on Milwaukee Avenue. While plastic Jersey walls had previously been used to close the sidewalk on the west side of Milwaukee north of Grand to facilitate work on a transit-oriented development called Kenect, yesterday the barriers had been moved to block off the bike lane as well. This forced bicyclists to squeeze between the wall and moving cars and increased the chance of riders being struck by right-turning motorists.

After art student Lisa Kuivinen, 20, was fatally struck on August 16 by a flatbed truck driver while biking downtown in a Milwaukee Avenue bike lane, many people noted that the bike lane was blocked by construction zone nearby at 830 North Milwaukee. While the lane closure doesn't seem to have been a factor in the crash, the case has drawn attention to the problem of the many current Milwaukee Avenue work zones creating a hazard for cyclists.