The 606

We discussed how The 606 extension proposal plays into Chicago's Amazon bid, safety issues, and more.

If the city wants to reassure residents that trails are being built for the benefit of people who currently live in the communities they run through, the Farm2Table Dinner was a terrible way to show it.

The Chicago Department of Transportation's complete streets makeover of Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park seems is moving along nicely.

Here’s some mind-bending drone footage of Metra trains passing by the west end of the Bloomingdale Trail, aka The 606.

It’s funny how a plain, green lawn suddenly becomes “fabulous” when the alternative is a bmx and skateboard park that would provide healthy recreational opportunities for teenagers from diverse backgrounds.

As I discussed last week, the 14th Police District’s plan to patrol the Bloomingdale Trail, aka The 606, on all-terrain vehicles makes no sense. They have virtually no benefits over patrolling the path by bicycle, since bike are much more maneuverable (a huge advantage when the trail is crowded), cycles with saddlebags have almost as much carrying capacity, they don't burn gas, and they provide healthy physical activity for the officers. Even the potential speed advantage of the ATVs isn’t much of an issue since the trail is less than three miles long.

The Bloomingdale Trail, aka The 606, was intended to be an oasis of calm in the hectic city. So it’s completely wrongheaded that the Chicago Police Department will soon be patrolling the path with all-terrain vehicles.

The Chicago Park District continues to do a bang-up job of clearing the Lakefront Trail. When I rode it on the North Side Monday afternoon in the wake of last weekend’s snowstorm – the second snowfall in as many weekends -- the pavement was generally dry as a bone. Last I heard, the trail on the South Side was in pretty good shape as well.

The park district's diligence with clearing the lakefront trail makes a lot of sense. The same should be true with The 606, but it's not.