Chicago – Page 7 – Grid Chicago

Unique sharrow designs in Chicago

Officially known as “shared lane markings”, there are at least six unique designs for the marking on Chicago streets. The current standard, as set forth by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), looks like this:

[flickr]photo:8222448382[/flickr]

A sharrow design installed by CDOT’s contractors on Milwaukee Avenue across from Uprise skate shop as part of a refreshing of the sharrows in the 1st Ward. You can see the dimension of the design it replaced. The current sharrow has a “pointer” and narrower chevron; the chevron tips are aligned differently, too. Installed in 2012.

[flickr]photo:8221367479[/flickr]

A second sharrow design, installed after water main construction on Milwaukee Avenue near Metzger Court and the Tocco restaurant. Notice how parts of it are tearing off. Installed in 2011.

[flickr]photo:8222438632[/flickr]

A third sharrow design on Milwaukee Avenue across from the Aldi at Leavitt Street. Installed 2005.

[flickr]photo:8221404797[/flickr]

A fourth sharrow design, on Clark Street just north of the Chicago River. Installed 2012.

[flickr]photo:4086712242[/flickr]

A fifth sharrow design (“bike in house”) on Halsted Street just south of the Chicago River. Installed in 2003 or prior.

[flickr]photo:8223446952[/flickr]

Then there’s the inverted sharrow, the sixth design. This location, at Elston Avenue and Webster Avenue, was installed after 2005 when the bike lane here was shortened to accommodate a left-turn lane. This is an older design but when Lincoln Avenue’s sharrows were refreshed in 2011, the design was repeated instead of switching to the current and proper design standard.

Eyes on the street: Railroad tracks in intersection being removed

[flickr]photo:8222607484[/flickr]

Crossing railroad tracks while bicycling is more than a bumpy annoyance. It can also cause a crash. The abandoned railroad track is finally being removed this month from the intersection of Division Street and Halsted Street. This is likely part of the larger project that removed the Kingsbury Street railroad track from Division Street to North Avenue this summer.

[flickr]photo:8222603130[/flickr]

Also new at this intersection is a new street name sign. It uses a different typeface, with larger text, but forgoes the grid numbering system (it would have “800 W” written on the sign).

[flickr]photo:8222681438[/flickr]

What the intersection looked like earlier this year in March.

Grid Shots: Great public spaces

Public spaces are not necessarily where transportation occurs. But sometimes transportation creates public spaces.

[flickr]photo:7799752864[/flickr]

A crowded ‘L’ car. Photo by Mike Travis.

[flickr]photo:7977195890[/flickr]

Relaxing on a temporary lawn during this year’s Open Streets on State Street event. Photo by Jane Healy.

[flickr]photo:8187357361[/flickr]

The wide, well-lit sidewalk under the Palmer House Hilton’s overhang. Photo by John Iwanski.

[flickr]photo:8117618783[/flickr]

Taking the scenic route through Lincoln Park in October. Photo by Michelle Stenzel.

[flickr]photo:8077677854[/flickr]

Daley Plaza, surrounded by Clark, Dearborn, Randolph, and Washington Streets, is the location for many a gathering, protest, and market. Here is Critical Mass prior to departure in September 2012. Photo by Dubi Kaufmann.

[flickr]photo:7975181837[/flickr]

Ping Tom Park in Chinatown provides some views of the Orange Line viaduct and this moveable steel bridge across which Amtrak trains travel. Photo by Adam Herstein.

[flickr]photo:7804932568[/flickr]

Enjoy this path on Northerly Island while it lasts. The path will be reconfigured and “shortened” in the next few years as the “island” is transformed. A campground and lagoon are slated to be built. Photo by Michelle Stenzel.

Add your photos to our Flickr group for consideration for future Grid Shots posts. View past Grid Shots post. See what themes are coming soon.

Fatality Tracker: Man hit and killed by Metra train at Irving Park station

[flickr]photo:4781619097[/flickr]

A Metra train at the Irving Park station in 2010. Photo by Eric Pancer.

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 27 (12 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 6 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 9
Skateboard: 1 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)

Richard Garza, 56, of Wilmette, Illinois, was hit by a Metra train on the UP-Northwest route at the Irving Park station (3931 N Avondale Avenue) on Friday, November 23. The three tracks are on an embankment and viaduct, and there is no pedestrian crossing. Assuming the train was on time, this happened at approximately 18:17.

To augment the Fatality Tracker posts, I am develop an online spreadsheet so that key research data can be accessed. View it here; keep in mind that not all persons are yet included.

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time. View previous Fatality Tracker posts.

Bike share, not white share: can Chicago’s program achieve diversity?

[flickr]photo:8200904854[/flickr]

B-Cycle, a small-scale bike share system that launched here in 2010. Photo by Michael Malecki.

[This piece also appeared in Checkerboard City, John’s weekly transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets in print on Thursdays.]

There’s a common misconception that transportation biking is only for privileged white folks. Recently Tribune columnist John Kass expressed this attitude when he dismissed cyclists as “the One Percenters of the Commuter Class,” but in reality people from all walks of life use bikes to get around. Many of these folks are the so-called “invisible riders,” low-income individuals who ride, not because they’re looking to get exercise or save the planet, but because they need cheap, efficient transportation.

Chicago’s new bike-sharing system, slated to launch next spring and grow to 4,000 vehicles by the end of the year, is a great opportunity to broaden the demographics of cycling here to include more residents from underserved neighborhoods and communities of color. By providing cycles for short-term use, to be ridden from one automated rental kiosk to another, it will function as a second public transportation system and remove some of the major obstacles to cycling: the need to purchase, store and maintain a bike, plus fear of theft.

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) will first install rental kiosks in the Loop and nearby neighborhoods, but coverage will eventually expand to serve an area generally bounded by Devon Street, California Avenue, 63rd Street and Lake Michigan. The roughly 400 kiosks will be located at transit stations, retail and employment centers, schools, hospitals and other convenient places. Citizens can suggest locations at Share.ChicagoBikes.org.

Continue reading Bike share, not white share: can Chicago’s program achieve diversity?

Should I reconsider my support for the Damen-Elston-Fullerton intersection plan?

[flickr]photo:6726016701[/flickr]

An overhead view of the new design. View all images and site plans.

Ed. note: In the spring of 2011, I suggested friends and readers of my blog Steven Can Plan write letters to the Chicago Department of Transportation about the distinct lack of bicycle infrastructure in the plan to redesign the intersection and streets at Damen Avenue, Fullerton Avenue, and Elston Avenue. It’s more than an intersection overhaul. I then reported that it appears the letters you and I sent were positively received and bicycle infrastructure was added to the plan. The project, now set forth, will have three separated intersections (which should reduce the complexity of traffic signal cycles and automobile turning movements) all connected by roads with four travel lanes. Elston and Damen Avenues will have protected and conventional bike lanes, respectively. A Grid Chicago reader emailed us three weeks ago to ask us to reconsider our support for that design.

Tony Horvath lives in Lakeview and is a business analyst for Merrill Corporation. He doesn’t own a car but remembers the intersection from when he used to own a car and drove through it often. He commutes by ‘L’ but has also biked through the intersection and in the area. -Steven Continue reading Should I reconsider my support for the Damen-Elston-Fullerton intersection plan?