Author: Steven Vance

A tale of five bridges

An alternate title I thought of using: Three steps forward, five steps back?

Both Chicago’s Complete Streets policy and the Bike 2015 Plan talk about the need to “ensure that roadway construction zones are bicycle-friendly”, but this is not being practiced. Here are five examples. I previously discussed this problem, at length, in June 2011, in Making construction areas and detours bike-friendly. It included a short mention of the second bridge project in this post.

Harrison Street

[flickr]photo:6557504697[/flickr]

No more jersey barriers. See what this used to look like.  Continue reading A tale of five bridges

Our first year: The most popular articles

[flickr]photo:6554562059[/flickr]

The new Halsted Street bridge over the North Branch Canal opened Friday. 

We launched on June 17th this year. We reached a few goals, and almost reached a couple others, and published 215 articles. We hit 100,000 page views in November, and we hope to double that soon, in less time.

These are the 10 most viewed articles up to December 22, 2011:

  1. Postal service making a mockery of Kinzie protected bike lane
    I’m not sure if they still are, but I know that FedEx, UPS, and moving companies continue to block the bike lane. This article received 55 comments.
  2. The second annual Bike Fashion Panel: sharp dressed men
    Dottie says: “I see a lot of women on bikes who are looking really nice, but I think I’ve only ever seen one man riding a bike in a suit”.
  3. How did progressive transportation czar Gabe Klein get that way?
    Out of the top 3 articles, this one’s been published for the shortest time. Continue reading Our first year: The most popular articles

Air quality attainment update from CMAP

[flickr]photo:2840512801[/flickr]

The Millennium Park Bike Station is one of thousands of projects funded in part by Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grants. 

From the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning newsletter:

As we told you last week [here’s our article], our region faces harm to its air quality and a significant loss of federal transportation funding if the U.S. EPA follows through on its intention to ignore current, certified 2011 data and rule that northeastern Illinois is “in attainment” with the agency’s 2008 guidelines for air quality. Among the many Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) projects that would lose funding is Pace’s $38.4 million express bus service along the Jane Addams Tollway as part of its upcoming reconstruction, which is identified as a high priority of GO TO 2040. We urge you to contact U.S. EPA and members of Congress, calling on the federal regulators to consider the up-to-date 2011 data, which clearly indicate our region has actually not attained the 2008 air standards. The U.S. EPA comment period has begun with publication of a December 20 notice in the Federal Register (marked as “40 CFR Part 81”), which includes details of how to make your views known. We have also created a sample letter for commenters.

Continue reading Air quality attainment update from CMAP

How often is alcohol a part of crashes in Chicago?

[flickr]photo:5923522776[/flickr]

This photo of a car elevated in a brick wall North Avenue and Kedzie Avenue by Katherine Hodges is not related to the story below. 

A comment was left on EveryBlock, in response to a crash at Lincoln and Fullerton, “What a shock, alcohol was involved” (here’s a newspaper’s report). I presume that many other people think alcohol is typically a cause or factor in automobile crashes. I looked at the data to know if it’s true.

Crashes

From 2007 to 2010, there were 394,651 reported crashes. Of those, responding police officers marked on the crash reports (SR-1050) that being under the influence of alcohol or drugs was a primary or second cause in only 3,647 crashes, or 0.924%. However, this does not tell the full story. That “cause code” (#8) is to be used when an arrest is made. When an arrest is not made, officers are to use “had been drinking” (#19), from which the data shows 1,030 crashes. Adding them together, you have 4,677 crashes. In other words, alcohol is a contributing primary or secondary cause in 1.185% of crashes. Continue reading How often is alcohol a part of crashes in Chicago?

What is attainment? How Chicagoland may lose $90 million in federal funding annually

[flickr]photo:4625338085[/flickr]

Transit and road improvement projects that increase efficiency and reduce emissions are at risk. Photo of Red Line and Dan Ryan traffic, looking north to the Chicago Loop. 

Chicago is currently a non-attainment area.

That means we don’t meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) “for pollutants considered harmful to public health and the environment” (read more), standards which are regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Six pollutants are measured across the country (note 1).  We currently don’t attain standards for particle pollution, specifically Particulate Matter 2.5; they’re particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers and “referred to as ‘fine’ particles and are believed to pose the greatest health risks”. Additionally, we’re a maintenance area for the 8-hour ozone standard. It is this designation that puts a large portion of the region’s transportation funding risk. Continue reading What is attainment? How Chicagoland may lose $90 million in federal funding annually

December MBAC highlights

[flickr]photo:3646195168[/flickr]

Might we see a return of the small group discussion public meeting format in 2012?

The final 2011 Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council (MBAC) was held Wednesday, December 14, 2011, at City Hall. The format that’s been in place for several years will disappear and be replaced by the original format set up in 1991. Aside from a review of the Chicago Bicycle Program’s new bikeways and two announcements about Complete Streets, this was, for me, the bike planning news of the week.

Original format

After introductions, Bike Program coordinator Ben Gomberg brought up how the council was established with representatives from various stakeholders the year in which Richard M. Daley had his first re-election. But, “it’s changed over the years, for whatever reason, to a public info session”. He mentioned how there’ve been suggestion to reconstitute it as a council. The council is described in the Bike 2000 Plan, a seven page document produced by the council. It lists specific members, like Randy Neufeld, currently a board member of Active Transportation Alliance, and Erma Tranter, longtime president of Friends of the Parks. I’m not aware of what the other members are doing. But are they still council members? Continue reading December MBAC highlights