Category: Grid Extras

More from Marge: Alderman Laurino talks trails, bike sharing

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Margaret Laurino with constituent and Grid Chicago commenter Bob Kastigar.

Since Checkerboard City, my weekly column that runs in print in Newcity magazine, is limited to about 1,000 words, some good material from my recent interview with bike-friendly 39th Ward Alderman Margaret Laurino wound up on the cutting room floor. She had interesting things to say about bringing bike sharing to her district, as well as plans for extending the North Branch trail 4.2 miles south south to Foster Avenue. The latter will make it possible to bike roughly 25 miles from Belmont and the Chicago River in Lakeview to the Chicago Botanic Gardens in north suburban Glencoe on an almost entirely car-free route. We’ll get you more details on that exciting project in the near future.

Are there any transit improvement projects going on in your ward?

I think that any improvements that have happened have actually already happened. One of them that I happen to be interested in because of the current ward re-map – you know we’re picking up new areas that we hadn’t had before. The one that I’m going to focus on is that Forest Glenn Metra stop where once again I want it to be a little bit more bike-friendly. I want people to once again be able to bring their bicycles to that stop and then hop on the train and go downtown. I don’t know how many people in my community are actually hopping on a bike, getting on Elston Avenue and actually going all the way downtown. I don’t think that’s happening too much. But getting to the train station on your bicycle… what do we call it, the last mile?

Exactly, yeah.

The last mile, that’s something that I want to really concentrate on. So I’m going to hopefully do that with Metra in cooperation with the city of Chicago there. And then I’d very much like to see a bike share [rental kiosks] at our universities in our ward. The one that I’m really going to push is going to be at Northeastern Illinois University because it’s a commuter college. I’d like to see a bike share [kiosk] on, say, Bryn Mawr. Then they can just rent their bikes, hop on Kimball, which isn’t a bad street for biking and get to the Brown Line at Lawrence and Kimball.

Continue reading More from Marge: Alderman Laurino talks trails, bike sharing

Transition Plan: We’re making the move to Streetsblog Chicago!

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Steven and John collaborated on this post. All photos by David Lepeska

You may have noticed that recently Steven and I have been posting more frequently and have started including a Today’s Headlines section first thing in the morning. Those of you who follow the Streetsblog family of transportation news sites may be experiencing déjà vu. It’s no coincidence: we’ve been gearing up to launch Streetsblog Chicago, which goes live next Tuesday, January 22. Needless to say, we’re extremely excited.

While Grid Chicago will go dormant at that time, we’re going to leave the site up as an archive. With Streetsblog Chicago we’ll be shifting to a bit more news-centered focus, with a higher quantity of more timely posts, covering a broader range of sustainable transportation and public space topics. We’re confident the change is going to result in Chicago’s walking, biking and transit issues getting more attention than ever, both locally and nationwide. Here’s a message from Streetsblog editor-in-chief Ben Fried on why the time is right for Streetsblog Chicago.

We’d like to thank you, our readers, for your loyal support these past two years. We invite you join us in celebrating the new site with a launch party next Thursday, January 24, 6-9 pm, in the second floor lounge of Revolution Brewing, 2323 N. Milwaukee. Hope to see you there!

Read Steven’s perspective on how Grid Chicago came to be, and how we came to be Streetsblog Chicago, after the jump.

Continue reading Transition Plan: We’re making the move to Streetsblog Chicago!

Today’s Headlines

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RTA approves budget measure allowing CTA to borrow up to $1 billion for bus and rail improvements (Tribune, RedEye)

Report looks at benefits of Red Line extension (CMAP)

RTA accuses United, American of dodging Chicago taxes with dummy offices in Sycamore, IL (Sun-Times)

O’Hare to offer “Minute Suites” for short-term naps (Sun-Times)

DuPage County gets $3.65 million in state funding for four road projects (Daily Herald)

CTA to start construction of a new electrical substation south of the Morse stop (CTA Tattler)

Taking a virtual bike ride to the lakefront on the new Fullerton bridge (BWLP)

Logan Square’s Kidical Mass gets the little ones out on bikes (DDLR)

Details on CDOT’s 150 miles of potential locations for enhanced lanes

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John and Mike Amsden at a Streets for Cycling meeting at the Sulzer Library in Lincoln Square – photo by Serge Lubomudrov

Last May during the community input process for the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020, Steven and I attended one of the public meetings at the Copernicus Center in Jefferson Park. At the open house Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) staff unveiled a map of potential locations for 110 miles of protected bike lanes and 40 miles of buffered lanes as part of a 645-mile bike network. Both of us left the meeting with the impression that CDOT was upping their goal from the 100 miles of physically separated protected lanes Rahm Emanuel had promised to install within his first term. Since then we’ve been reporting CDOT plans to install 110/40 by 2015, and we’ve never gotten feedback from CDOT that this was inaccurate.

In December, the press release for the Dearborn Street two-way protected lanes made it clear that CDOT is now referring to physically separated protected lanes as “barrier-protected” and calling buffered lanes “buffer protected,” and their current goal is to install a total of 100 miles of the two different types of lanes by the end of the mayor’s first term. In the wake of this terminology shift and apparent change in plans, I asked CDOT bikeways planner Mike Amsden for some clarification about what happened to the 150 miles of proposed lanes shown on the map.

Continue reading Details on CDOT’s 150 miles of potential locations for enhanced lanes

Today’s Headlines

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Man wounded by gunshot near Kinzie Street protected bike lanes (Sun-Times)

Butterfield Foods to sell coffee, sandwiches at CTA Jeff Park and Roosevelt stops (CTA Tattler)

Car injures pedestrian in south suburban Crestwod (Southtown Star)

West Side shooting victim dies while driving to hospital, blocking entrance to Eisenhower (Defender)

A guide to retailers who still have CTA passes at the old price (RedEye)

New report looks at transit oriented development opportunities in western ‘burbs (CNT)

Can “Chicagoism” lead the way for sustainable development in the future? (Urbanist)

Columnist argues against drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants (Austin Weekly News)

Could Chicago’s parking enforcement workers double as city ambassadors? (FOX)

Many of Chicago’s best bars are located on future Spoke Routes (Chicago Magazine)

Continue reading Today’s Headlines

Ski for Yourself: The CTA’s Glide and Ride program

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Cross-country skiing near the Waveland Clock Tower.

[This piece originally ran in Newcity.]

Although Chicago is a superior city in most respects, I suspect that Minneapolis, a much colder, snowier town, is actually a place where more people enjoy the winter. This is because residents of the Twin Cities, with their strong Scandinavian heritage, know how to embrace the season, donning cheerful woolen clothing and diving into cold-weather fun like sledding, skating and snowball fights, followed by large quantities of glögg.

Here in the Windy City, most people dress in black and view winter as something to survive, not celebrate. They see it as a series of hassles and indignities: freezing ‘L’ platforms, slushy sidewalks, salt-choked air and parking spots selfishly reserved with old furniture.

Not me. I’ve got a two-pronged strategy to make the most out of cold weather. The first is indoor coziness and/or winter denial: gastropubs, rock clubs and hot tubs; Hala Kahiki and the Garfield Park Conservatory. As I type this, I’m sitting in the ninth-floor winter garden of the Harold Washington Library, surrounded by leafy trees and ivy-covered walls.

My second tactic is making sure to get plenty of outside time in the brilliant winter sunshine. I bundle up and ride my bike daily, and take long walks around Logan Square after fresh snowfalls create an atmosphere of hushed beauty. One of these days I’m going to get up early, pedal to the Belmont Harbor peninsula and do (clumsy) yoga as the sun rises over the steaming water — I mean it.

Continue reading Ski for Yourself: The CTA’s Glide and Ride program