Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Chicago Tribune

The Stevenson Expressway. Photo: Robert Powers

Worry Less About $40 Tolls and More About Plans to Widen I-55

By John Greenfield | Dec 18, 2017 | 16 Comments

The Tribune is concerned about congestion-priced lanes on the Stevenson resulting in Virginia-style $40 tolls, but the real problem is that expanding the highway would encourage more driving.

Instead of making us wait until mid-2019 for the entire flyover to open, the city should convert a lane of lower LSD to a protected bike lane, as Steven Vance proposed five years ago. Rendering: Erich Stenzel

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Navy Pier Flyover Is Delayed, But Here’s How We Can Immediately Improve Bike/Ped Access

By John Greenfield | Oct 16, 2017 | 15 Comments

Now that the flyover project is delayed until mid-2019, Active Trans is recommending an idea Steven Vance proposed five years ago.

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Is Pricey Downtown Parking Really a “A Drag on Downtown Retail and Tourism?”

By John Greenfield | Jul 13, 2017 | 5 Comments

High parking prices actually help merchants by encouraging turnover and increasing the supply of available spaces.

A red light camera location in Melrose Park. Image: Google Street View

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The Chicago Sun-Times Hops on the Anti-Cam Bandwagon

By John Greenfield | May 23, 2017 | 11 Comments

After the Chicago Tribune’s star anti-traffic camera reporter David Kidwell left the paper last month somebody had to take up the slack, right?

Cornell Drive, the 6-lane traffic sewer that currently runs though one of Chicago's most beautiful green spaces. Image: Google Maps

No, Chicago Tribune, We Don’t Have to Accommodate All 19,300 Car Trips on Cornell

By John Greenfield | May 15, 2017 | 6 Comments

Rhe Trib’s assumption that all of the car trips that currently take place on Cornell need to be “accommodated” is flawed.

A crackdown on cyclists in Wicker Park last January. The Trib editorial board argues that the solution to police aggressively targeting bike riders on the South and West Sides is for ticketing practices on the North Side to become equally unfair. Photo: Photo: @hurmsolo

Tribune’s Answer to the “Biking While Black” Problem: Crack Down on North Side Riders Too

By John Greenfield | Mar 28, 2017 | 15 Comments

Leave it to the Chicago Tribune editorial board to take an important expose on police targeting bike riders in black communities and use it as an excuse for yet another another call-to-arms for more ticketing of cyclists citywide.

Robert Calvin rides in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. During a roughly nine-month period last year police wrote 321 bike citations in Austin but only 30 in majority-white Lakeview. Photo: John Greenfield

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The CPD’s “Biking While Black” Enforcement Practices Have Got to Stop

By John Greenfield | Mar 21, 2017 | 27 Comments

A Chicago Tribune investigation indicates that police are much more likely to ticket people in African-American communities for bike infractions than they are to issue citations to lawbreaking cyclists in mostly white areas. This isn't just illegal and unjust. It also discourages cycling in black neighborhoods.

There's no need for drivers to use Cornell or Marquette (southernmost east-west street in Jackson Park) to continue south on Stony Island. The Obama Library will be located on the patch of land currently occupied by a running track and baseball diamonds. Image: Google Maps

Why Pedestrianizing Jackson Park Roads Won’t Cause Carmaggedon

By John Greenfield | Feb 1, 2017 | 18 Comments

The Chicago Tribune recently reported that the Obama Foundation has proposed pedestrianizing stretches of the highway-like roads that run through Jackson Park, the future home of Barack Obama’s presidential library, to create a museum campus. The tone of the article, and quotes from some community members, suggest that this change would cause strangle transportation on […]

The one state of the union where rational cycling is legal.

A Dud of a Tribune Editorial About Spud State-Style Stopping

By John Greenfield | Dec 16, 2016 | 3 Comments

The Trib says legalizing the Idaho stop would make our streets more chaotic and dangerous.

Bicyclists treating stoplights like stop signs, and stop signs like yield signs, is a ubiquitous and harmless practice. Photo: John Greenfield

“Idaho Stop” in the Name of Love: DePaul Study Endorses Rational Cycling

By John Greenfield | Dec 12, 2016 | 7 Comments

The Chicago Tribune is such a reliable source of flat-earth rants about biking, that it’s truly a pleasure when they publish some sensible words about cycling. Recently most of the paper’s intelligent coverage of bike issues has come from transportation reporter Mary Wisniewski, who commutes on two wheels herself. An example was this morning’s balanced […]

Days After Drivers Kill and Maim Cyclists, Trib Op-Ed Calls for Bike Crackdown

By John Greenfield | Oct 4, 2016 | 8 Comments

After Anastasia Kondrasheva, 23, was fatally struck on her bicycle by a right-turning truck driver in Roscoe Village on September 26, the Tribune ran an editorial noting that this tragedy should remind motorists to watch out for bikes on the road. This reflects the paper’s evolving coverage of traffic safety issues, which has generally improved during […]

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