[flickr]photo:5104061878[/flickr]
A group of Chicagoans ride through Bridgeport.
This is the public meeting schedule of four meetings for the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020. Any changes to this schedule will be first posted on the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 Facebook page, and the Chicago Bicycle Program website.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Open House
23 E Madison Street
10 AM to 4 PM
Wednesday, January 17, 2012
West side public meeting
Garfield Park Conservatory
300 N Central Park Avenue
6 PM to 8 PM
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
South side public meeting
Woodson Regional Library
9525 S Halsted Street
6 PM to 8 PM
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
North side public meeting
Sulzer Regional Library
4455 N Lincoln Avenue
6 PM to 8 PM
I’m very concerned that there may be low attendance because of inclement weather and low temperatures. I’m curious to know why the first meeting, the Open House, is scheduled for six months after the plan was announced at the June 2011 MBAC meeting. Are you planning to attend any or all of the meetings?
I plan to attend the December open house and the south side meeting. I share your concern about the possibility of weather limiting attendance. The timing of these meetings is less than ideal for getting a good amount of public input.
Who on earth selected these locations? There is something ironic about having public meetings for a city wide cycling plan in areas completely unfit for cycling and even unfit for pedestrians.
23 E Madison – No dedicated bike lane or shared lane
300 N Central Park – Middle of a blown out neighborhood (who bikes here?), no bike lanes from the North, only from the South and E-W on Washington
9525 S Halsted – No dedicated bike lane or shared lane within one mile in any direction, intersection of two 4 lane roadways with dedicated turn lanes and each corner consumed by auto centric strip malls.
4455 N Lincoln – While I agree on this location (good for pedestrians, dense neighborhood, biking community) it still is not accessibly by a dedicated bike lane.
This alone should speak volumes about where Chicago’s bicycle network stands and how much work is left to be done…. and how woefully the attempt by City Hall to gather public input are. These meeting should have happened months ago, while the weather was nice and in locations that already have substantial, active, biking communities.
The south side location has decent public transit access, bike racks and car parking. It’s not as inaccessible by bike as you think, and there is a LOT of pedestrian traffic there. I’ve ridden there plenty of times. It’s one mile from the end of the CTA red line, and just over a mile from the 95th St./Beverly Hills Metra station. A LOT of bus routes run between the red line and 95th/Halsted.
Plenty of people ride to the other locations. Declaring all of these locations completely unfit for cycling or pedestrians suggests that you have never visited these places (beyond viewing them on Google Maps street view) and that you have never seen the bike and ped traffic there.
While I agree that there is lots of work to be done to improve our bike route network, lack of dedicated bike lanes at the meeting locations should not rule them out as suitable. Each of these locations is somewhere near the center of its geographic region, with a large meeting room or auditorium. Each is accessible by bike, walking, public transit or driving.
I DEFINITELY agree that these meetings should have happened long before the holidays, before weather and holiday obligations could start interfering with people’s ability to attend.
I hope that other readers are not deterred from attending by one person’s opinion.
If any of you have ideas to contribute but are unable to attend a meeting for whatever reason, please send your suggestions by e-mail to
streetsforcycling2020@gmail.com or post them on the Streets for Cycling Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StreetsForCycling2020
The south side location has decent public transit access, bike racks and car parking. It’s not as inaccessible by bike as you think, and there is a LOT of pedestrian traffic there. I’ve ridden there plenty of times. It’s one mile from the end of the CTA red line, and just over a mile from the 95th St./Beverly Hills Metra station. A LOT of bus routes run between the red line and 95th/Halsted.
Plenty of people ride to the other locations. Declaring all of these locations completely unfit for cycling or pedestrians suggests that you have never visited these places (beyond viewing them on Google Maps street view) and that you have never seen the bike and ped traffic there.
While I agree that there is lots of work to be done to improve our bike route network, lack of dedicated bike lanes at the meeting locations should not rule them out as suitable. Each of these locations is somewhere near the center of its geographic region, with a large meeting room or auditorium. Each is accessible by bike, walking, public transit or driving.
I DEFINITELY agree that these meetings should have happened long before the holidays, before weather and holiday obligations could start interfering with people’s ability to attend.
I hope that other readers are not deterred from attending by one person’s opinion.
If any of you have ideas to contribute but are unable to attend a meeting for whatever reason, please send your suggestions by e-mail to
streetsforcycling2020@gmail.com or post them on the Streets for Cycling Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StreetsForCycling2020
Thanks for posting the schedule.
The south and west locations do seem pretty crappy. Scheduling them in January and February will also limit the number of people who actually bike to them.
I plan to attend the southside meeting and I’ll bike there if the weather is tolerable. I ride through the winter, but there are usually 5-10 days each year when I opt out due to ice or snow.
You’re welcome. I hope you’ll send us a report of what you learned and what concerns and ideas you expressed.