Deloris Lucas

CDOT says the project will be entering its preliminary design phase soon, although it may be a while before it's ready to ride.

The purpose of the event was "to a promote an active, healthy lifestyle to residents of the far South Side.

17 of the 29 total miles of bikeways installed last year, or about 59 percent, were installed south of Marquette Drive.

Lucas says it's somewhat understandable that CDOT is not immediately bringing Divvy to the area, since it currently lacks safe places to ride, but that could improve soon.

Other new bike lanes and upgrades were recently completed or are planned on the Southeast Side, in the Illinois Medical District, in East Garfield Park, and in Andersonville.

As the bike-share system prepares to expand citywide, Lucas wants to be sure that there will be auxiliary benefits for Far South Side residents.

Residents discussed the plan to extend the Red Line to 130th, and weighed in on whether converting the Metra Electric line to rapid transit would be an adequate substitute.

[The Chicago Reader recently launched a new weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership will allow Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We’ll be syndicating a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in print. The paper hits the streets on Thursdays.]

Residents in the Riverdale community area, which includes the Altgeld Gardens, Eden Green, Golden Gate, and Riverdale neighborhoods, are surrounded by barriers that make it hard to travel within and beyond the area. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning recently awarded the Chicago Department of Transportation a Local Technical Assistance grant to create a multi-modal transportation plan for the area. In the grant application [PDF] CDOT noted that Riverdale residents are hemmed in by large industrial land uses, the Bishop Ford Expressway, four railroads, and the Little Calumet River. Additionally, all of the arterial streets are recommend truck routes, "creating an additional challenge for people walking and biking due to high truck traffic and speeds."