CDOT

National Bike Month in May results in an inevitable flurry of national press articles trumpeting bike commuting. The headlines can get pretty repetitive: "Top 10 Cities for Bicycling," "Bike To Work Rate Grows," "City Adds 10 More Miles of Bike Lanes."

During the Daley administration, many marked crosswalks at busy downtown intersections disappeared in an attempt to speed up auto traffic. These missing crosswalks confused pedestrians, led to overcrowding at remaining crossings, and often doubled the time it took to get from one corner to the other. Previous transportation commissioner Gabe Klein restored the most high-profile of these missing crosswalks, the Queen's Landing crosswalk over Lake Shore Drive between Buckingham Fountain and Lake Michigan.

On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Transportation kicked off the feedback process for the the North Lake Shore Drive rehabilitation's future alternatives analysis, at the third meeting of the project's task forces. During the previous two meetings, it seemed like IDOT would insist upon just another highway project, with minimal benefits for pedestrians, transit users and bicyclists. Yet as the process of determining the lakefront highway's future has evolved, some hope that the project can be steered in a more positive direction.

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.

Bloomingdale Trail construction charges ahead, with bridge work that involves closing Milwaukee at the viaduct, tonight at 8 p.m. through early Monday morning. Cars, trucks and buses will detour around the construction via North and Western, and pedestrians are advised to take a shorter detour via Oakley, Wilmot, and Leavitt Street to reach Wilmot. Winnebago, which would otherwise be a detour option since, like Wilmot, it parallels Milwaukee, will also be closed at the Bloomingdale viaduct during construction.

As the Chicago Transit Authority prepares to fix up Blue Line tracks, the agency is warning riders that they'll face significant delays during the weekends when work is underway. But tens of thousands of transit riders would face less inconvenience if the city cleared some room on Milwaukee Avenue by diverting motor vehicle traffic.

A huge complaint during this #Chiberia season has been the lack of snow removal from sidewalks. The problem is nothing new, but complaints are rising along with the frequency of the snowfall -- it is the fifth snowiest winter, after all. The issue was discussed at February's Mayor's Pedestrian Advisory Council, and last week CDOT released stats on how many 311 reports residents have submitted requesting snow removal.

The Chicago Department of Transportation will close 115th Street just east of Western Avenue to motor vehicle through traffic, creating a cul-de-sac to reduce neighborhood traffic after a Chicago Park District ice hockey rink and gymnastics center opens. The closure for cars could improve this important bike route, but only if it maintains street connectivity for bicycling, which doesn't seem to be the case in previous designs and project renderings.