Canal Street

New Bikeways Week rolls on with a look at the new protected bike lanes on Canal Street between Harrison Street and Roosevelt Road. Several recently constructed Chicago bikeways, such as the lanes on Milwaukee Avenue between Kinzie Street and Elston Avenue, are largely made up of buffered lanes, sometimes with flexible posts that discourage, but don't prevent, drivers from entering the lanes. On these bikeways, there are only short sections where bicyclists are actually physically protected from moving cars by parked vehicles. However, the majority of this half-mile section of Canal features parking-protected bike lanes, which provide a nice feeling of security for risk-averse cyclists.