buffered bike lanes

Chicago Department of Transportation crews are continuing their work this summer, building new bikeways and upgrading existing ones. Yesterday, I took a spin around the Loop and the South Side to check out the latest improvements on Randolph, Harrison, California, 33rd, and King.

A new study has found that buffered bike lanes are better than conventional bike lanes when it comes to encouraging bicyclists to ride outside the door zone. The study draws its conclusion, in part, based on a test done with bike lanes in Chicago.

Due to the cold spring, the Chicago Department of Transportation's bikeways construction season got off to a late start. Thermoplastic pavement markings don’t adhere properly to asphalt at temperatures below 50 Fahrenheit, as evidenced by bike lanes and crosswalks in various parts of town that were striped too late in the season in 2013 and have quickly deteriorated. Therefore, it was wise to wait for warmer weather this year.

It’s official: business owners along the Elston industrial corridor are giving up their fight against better bike lanes on the street.

To reach Mayor Rahm Emanuel's goal of having five percent of trips under five miles made by bike, bicycling will have to appeal to a much broader base of people than it does today. CDOT's bikeway projects will only succeed at that goal if new cyclists feel safe and comfortable while riding in these lanes -- which, in turn, largely depends on whether they feel safe from nearby traffic.

The City of Chicago announced a new slate of bikeway projects today, outlining about 15 miles of new buffered bike lanes and a little more than four miles of protected lanes to be built in 2014.

Last month when Chicago Department of Transportation staffers discussed plans for buffered bike lanes on Elston between North and Webster at a meeting hosted by the North Branch Works industrial council, there was stiff resistance from local business owners. Although there's currently a protected lane on the street from Division to North, and a fading conventional lane on this stretch, they argued that encouraging more cycling on the street would interfere with truck movement and endanger bike riders.

On Wednesday morning the North Branch Works industrial council hosted a meeting for business owners on the city’s proposal to upgrade barely visible conventional bike lanes on Elston between North and Webster to buffered lanes, focusing on the section south of Cortland. Joe Robinson, a member of Bike Walk Logan Square who teaches at a school located on this stretch, attended the session, in which Chicago Department of Transportation discussed the plan with attendees. Although there is a protected lane on Elston between Milwaukee and North, and this section is wide enough for PBLs, Robinson said there was stiff opposition from the business owners to merely striping buffered lanes with paint.

This weekend might be the Chicago Department of Transportation’s last hurrah for building bike lanes before the construction season ends. The molten plastic striping doesn’t properly adhere to asphalt at temperatures under 50 degrees Fahrenheit, so the last several days of frigid weather put a halt to CDOT’s efforts to install 20.7 more miles of buffered and protected lanes before the deep-freeze sets in.