Lakefront Trail

In the wake of out article about the perils of lakefront algae, Chicago native George Brannen shared his own story of a shoreline misadventure

For better or for worse, cyclists will have to detour east to the lakefront on this stretch, and trail users will have to go through an underpass to cross Montrose.

Stephanie Reid slipped on the green stuff and broke her arm while riding. Now she wants to keep others from suffering the same fate -- or worse.

This morning city and park district officials cut the ribbon on the first completed section of the Lakefront Trail separation project between 31st and 41st Street. This provides a preview of what trail separation will look like on the rest of the trail between 71st and Ardmore – where there’s sufficient space to create different paths for pedestrians and bicyclists. Separation along the entire lakefront is slated to be completed in 2018.

I took a spin to the South Side to check out the in-progress trail separation project between 31st and 41st, which broke ground last August and is almost done.

Residents have previously identified the creation of separate paths for pedestrians and bike riders on the 18.5-mile trail as a top priority for improving the lakefront.

[Last year the Chicago Reader launched a weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership allows Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We syndicate a portion of the column after it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in print. The paper hits the streets on Thursdays.]

It’s been an awful two weeks for bike collisions in northeast Illinois. On Tuesday of last week, a 29-year-old woman was struck and injured on her bicycle at Jackson and Homan, by a police officer who witnesses say ran a red light without using lights or sirens. That Wednesday bike courier Blaine Klingenberg was fatally struck by a tour bus driver at Oak and Michigan, the first Chicago bike fatality of 2016

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