Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about MBAC

City Has 83 Miles of Better Bike Lanes, Will Surpass 100 Mile Goal in 2015

By Anne Alt | Dec 17, 2014 | 11 Comments

The Chicago Department of Transportation has nearly reached Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s much-ballyhooed goal of building 100 miles of buffered or protected bike lanes during his first term. CDOT staff at last week’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting said that they’ve striped 83 miles of the better bike lanes so far, and plan to surpass the […]

CDOT Previews Chicago’s Next Round of New Bikeways

By John Greenfield | Sep 12, 2014 | 21 Comments

The quarterly meetings of the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council are a good place to get up to speed on Chicago’s latest bike developments. Wednesday’s meeting was no exception, with updates on bike lane construction, off-street trails, Divvy bike-share, and more. The sessions take place during business hours, but if your schedule allows you to attend, […]

CDOT Aims to Install Over 1,000 Bike Parking Spaces in 2014

By Steven Vance | Jun 25, 2014 | 13 Comments

The new Chicago Department of Transportation bike parking program manager, Kathleen Murphy, described the upcoming summer and fall installation season during the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting two weeks ago. She outlined three initiatives that will get over a thousand new bicycle parking spaces installed on sidewalks and roadways. Murphy is continuing the city’s long-standing program […]

Central Loop Busway Will Reorganize, Expand Downtown Bike Lanes

By Steven Vance | Jun 12, 2014 | 24 Comments

Bicycle routes through the Loop suffer from “poor connectivity,” admits Mike Amsden, assistant director of transportation planning at the Chicago Department of Transportation. At yesterday’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting, Amsden revealed details about how the Central Loop BRT project will improve the situation by spring of 2015. The Central Loop BRT project, Amsden said, will “move people […]

Divvy Supplier Sale May Delay Expansion But Station Locations Nearly Ready

By Steven Vance | Mar 14, 2014 | 14 Comments

The Chicago Department of Transportation and Divvy will be installing 175 bike-share stations this year with a new method that avoids last year’s haphazard and seemingly random distribution. Instead, they will be placing all stations in each of 10 selected areas at once. This way, CDOT assistant commissioner Sean Wiedel told Streetsblog, “that area will […]

Like Chicago Bicyclists, Divvy Will Soldier on Through the Winter

By Steven Vance | Dec 17, 2013 | 16 Comments

My @DivvyBikes ride from #MarquetteBuilding party to @BluestemCommOrg party. #divvyon #bikewinter #notholidivvy pic.twitter.com/UGOylnk1YW — Abby Crisostomo (@AbbyMPC) December 13, 2013 At last Wednesday’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting, assistant transportation commissioner Sean Wiedel shared Divvy’s cold-weather operating strategy. To keep maintenance costs down and scale the bike-share fleet to anticipated demand, Divvy is aiming to reduce the […]

Clybourn Ave and State St Could Get City’s First Curb-Separated Bikeways

By Steven Vance | Dec 12, 2013 | 21 Comments

At yesterday’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council, Chicago Bicycle Program project manager Mike Amsden revealed a new detail about the missing piece of the Clybourn Avenue buffered bike lane. The Chicago Department of Transportation is working with the Illinois Department of Transportation to install a protected bike lane on Clybourn that may be separated by a […]

City Explains Gap in Snow Removal From Protected Bike Lanes This Week

By Steven Vance | Dec 12, 2013 | 65 Comments

Kinzie bike lane plowed & salted except for bridge & of course , bridge sidewalk @transitized pic.twitter.com/UvuFzScEGR — Ding Ding Let's Ride (@DingDingLR) December 9, 2013 Residual snow in bike lanes was a problem this week, putting cyclists in slippery situations. Twitter messages popped up about snow still in the Kinzie protected bike lane after […]

How Can Chicago Fix the “Weak Links” That Mar Bike Access Downtown?

By Steven Vance | Sep 18, 2013 | 41 Comments

Biking downtown has improved substantially with the addition of protected bike lanes on Kinzie Street and Dearborn Street, but much work remains to be done to create a safe, cohesive bike network linking people to Chicago’s biggest employment center. At last week’s meeting of the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council, Michelle Stenzel, a community representative for the […]

CDOT Developing Divvy Relocation Procedures

By Steven Vance | Sep 13, 2013 | 11 Comments

Divvy bike-share continues to expand, Assistant Transportation Commissioner Sean Wiedel said at the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council on Wednesday, and should reach 300 stations by the end of September. As of today there are 222 stations. Wiedel reported that over 7,700 annual members and numerous 24-hour pass users have made almost 325,000 trips and pedaled […]

IDOT Truck Driver Injured Pregnant Divvy Rider on Augusta Last Week

By Steven Vance | Sep 12, 2013 | 12 Comments

An Illinois Department of Transportation employee driving a Ford pickup truck struck a pregnant Divvy rider at around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, September 3, at the intersection of Augusta Boulevard and Ashland Avenue. The 34-year-old victim, who was riding from East Village to work on Michigan Avenue, sustained injuries to her face and body; her pregnancy […]

Load more stories