Milwaukee Avenue

It wasn't crystal clear from the presentation earlier this month which "near-term" improvements are slated for construction this summer, so here's a recap.

While most of this stretch won't be getting bike lanes in the near future, a number of bike- and pedestrian-friendly changes are planned for later this year.

Last night, the advocacy organization hosted a gathering to encourage local residents to advocate for the bike lanes.

Construction plates have created a hazard for cyclists on the 1700 block of North Milwaukee, just south of the Milwaukee/Leavitt entrance to the Bloomingdale Trail.

The Wicker Park-Bucktown business improvement district wants to widen the sidewalk to create more pedestrian space across from the Polish Triangle.

Fixing the North/Damen/Milwaukee intersection, adding bike lanes on Milwaukee Avenue, and making the viaducts by the Clybourn Metra stop safer and more pleasant are all scenes we'd love to see.

At yesterday’s City Council meeting, aldermen passed an ordinance, supported by First Ward alderman Joe Moreno, to allow the developer LG Partners to install a bike counter in front of its new building at the northeast corner of Division, Ashland, and Milwaukee. Here’s the announcement from the mayor’s office:

After art student Lisa Kuivinen, 20, was fatally struck on August 16 by a flatbed truck driver while biking downtown in a Milwaukee Avenue bike lane, many people noted that the bike lane was blocked by construction zone nearby at 830 North Milwaukee. While the lane closure doesn't seem to have been a factor in the crash, the case has drawn attention to the problem of the many current Milwaukee Avenue work zones creating a hazard for cyclists.

[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.]