Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Loop

Take a Virtual Ride on the New Randolph Protected Bike Lane

By John Greenfield | Oct 18, 2016 | 13 Comments

An important new downtown bikeway recently became rideable. The Randolph protected bike lane runs from Michigan to Clinton, making an already-popular westbound route out of the Loop safer. The project involved a road diet. One one the three travel lanes on Randolph was converted to make room for the bike lane and its striped buffer. […]

Eyes on the Street: The Randolph Protected Bike Lane Starts to Take Shape

By John Greenfield | Jul 26, 2016 | 11 Comments

The Loop Link bus rapid transit corridor on Washington Street includes a concrete-protected bike lane between the island bus stations and the curb. But the construction of the raised, curbside bus platforms and dedicated bus lanes on Madison Street involved the removal an existing bike lane. The Chicago Department of Transportation plans to replace the […]

Eyes on the Street: Dearborn Detour Suggests Salmoning on Lake Street

By Steven Vance | May 19, 2016 | 19 Comments

The City of Chicago has made notable progress on expanding its network of protected bike lanes into more community areas and communities of color than it had before Rahm Emanuel became mayor, but it seems nothing is better about the way bicyclists and pedestrians are accommodated around construction projects. The city has even beefed up detour rules contractors […]

Eyes on the Street: On the First Day of Loop Link

By John Greenfield | Dec 21, 2015 | 31 Comments

Like kids unwrapping presents, travelers in downtown Chicago had some shiny new infrastructure to try out Sunday morning. The Loop Link bus rapid transit system debuted on a day when weekday traffic wasn’t an issue, although the central business district was packed with holiday shoppers. Monday will be the first big test of the system. […]

CDOT Pilots Bike Lane Treatment Inspired by Dutch Protected Intersections

By John Greenfield and Steven Vance | Dec 1, 2015 | 11 Comments

As part of the Loop Link bus rapid transit project, which includes the construction of protected bike lanes on Washington, Randolph, and Clinton downtown, the Chicago Department of Transportation is trying a kind of intersection treatment that’s new to our city. Inspired by Dutch-style “protected intersections,” they’re installing special concrete curbs and islands in an […]

Tour Bus Driver Fatally Struck Professor Who Was Walking to an Art Exhibit

By John Greenfield | Nov 30, 2015 | 1 Comment

Hiromi Hosono, 42, an agriculture professor from Japan, was killed earlier this month by the driver of a trolley-themed tour bus who failed to yield while making a right turn. Hosono, who was serving as a visiting professor at Cornell University, had been touring dairy farms in the Midwest when she decided to visit Chicago […]

Norway or the Highway? Oslo’s Car-Free Plan Should Inspire Chicago

By John Greenfield | Nov 24, 2015 | 11 Comments

[This article also runs in Checkerboard City, John’s transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] “I think we should look to countries like Denmark, and Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they’ve accomplished,” socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said recently. That statement surely gave the Republicans hives. One area […]

Pritzker Park Sale Is a Chance to Create New Transfer from ‘L’ to Subway

By Steven Vance | May 8, 2015 | 37 Comments

There are several pros and cons of the city’s controversial plan to sell the Pritzker Park site for development. One important and urgent aspect is that it would be an unparalleled – and potentially free – opportunity to create the first enclosed, wheelchair-accessible transfer between the CTA’s Loop elevated lines and the Red and Blue Line subways. […]

Loop Alliance Credits Activate Alley Parties With Spurring $400K in Sales

By John Greenfield | Apr 16, 2015 | No Comments

Once again, the Chicago Loop Alliance is rolling out a full slate of placemaking initiatives in an effort to boost downtown retail and promote the arts. The centerpiece of the campaign is Activate, a series of pop-up art parties held in alleys, which the downtown chamber of commerce says led to hundreds of thousands of dollars […]

CDOT Tweaks Randolph/Michigan, But It’s Still Dysfunctional for Pedestrians

By John Greenfield | Dec 10, 2014 | 43 Comments

When you build a fabulous new attraction in the center of a bustling metropolis, you obviously want to maximize pedestrian access to make it easy for large numbers of people to walk there, right? That’s not what happened with Millennium Park. A month after the music and art venue opened in the summer of 2004, […]

Eyes on the Street: Goodbye to “Lake Kluczynksi”?

By John Greenfield | Dec 4, 2014 | 3 Comments

The Dearborn protected bike lanes are one of the gems of Chicago’s bikeway network, but ever since the two-way route opened, poor drainage has been a major fly in the ointment. Two years ago, the bike lanes were installed curbside, on existing asphalt that had some rough spots. From the get-go, rain and slush accumulated […]

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