Walking – Page 9 – Grid Chicago

The Bloomingdale rails-to-trails conversion is chugging along

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One the perks of co-writing this blog is attending events that I probably wouldn’t get to go to otherwise. Case in point was last week’s swanky benefit party, “The Bloomingdale: An Ideas Salon,” at the Hotel Allegro, 171 W. Randolph. According to Beth White, Chicago director for the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the nonprofit which is assisting with the community input process and private fundraising campaign for the 2.65-mile elevated park and trail, about 150 people attended. She’s yet not sure how much will have been raised after expenses, but the $100 ticket price means the event grossed about $15,000.

Continue reading The Bloomingdale rails-to-trails conversion is chugging along

Why is there a “vestigal” stoplight just south of Clark/Roosevelt?

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Although it’s hard to see, there’s a button-activated, signalized crosswalk located between the first planter median and the jersey wall.

[This piece also runs in Time Out Chicago magazine.]

Q: There’s a working stoplight on Clark south of Roosevelt, that doesn’t seem to have any purpose or function. What’s the deal with this vestigial traffic light?

A: The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) installed this signal during the 2004 rehab of the Clark/Roosevelt intersection, when the Clark underpass was built, says spokesman Pete Scales. The stoplight was included for a future access road to a housing development planned for the vacant land southwest of the intersection. “That massive redevelopment project never got off the ground,” Scales says. “At this point it might take more money to remove the stoplight than leave it in.” Continue reading Why is there a “vestigal” stoplight just south of Clark/Roosevelt?

Confusing intersection of Milwaukee-Wood-Wolcott to be redesigned and reconstructed in Spring 2013 (was September)

Update September 7, 2012: From the Wicker Park-Bucktown SSA, we get news that this project has been pushed back to spring 2013. It seems IDOT is responsible for this delay.

The skewed intersection of Milwaukee Avenue, Wood Street, and Wolcott Avenue in Wicker Park will be redesigned and reconstructed this year as part of a project to upgrade the signals. The original project only called for upgrading the traffic signals, which are decades old and very hard to see. Their timing is also awkward, providing no “all red” phase between the red phase of one direction and the following green phase of the cross direction. Construction should begin in September, according to the 1st Ward office.

Confusion is compounded with the addition of a rare slip lane on Wood Street at Milwaukee Avenue, which is created by a small island of concrete that only holds a light signal pole for southbound traffic. More often, islands are used to help protect pedestrians from traffic.

View the intersection in a larger map on Bing Maps.

Continue reading Confusing intersection of Milwaukee-Wood-Wolcott to be redesigned and reconstructed in Spring 2013 (was September)

An extended LSD trip?

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McCaffery Interests rendering of the USX site, including a possible South Shore Drive reconfiguration.

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

Earlier this month Mayor Emanuel held a press conference at the former U.S. Steel South Works (USX) site, a weed-strewn piece of vacant land bigger than the central Loop, bulging into Lake Michigan from 79th to 92nd. He was there to herald the construction of a new $21 million, four-lane boulevard that will run two miles through the site, intended as the future main street of the proposed Chicago Lakeside Development.

Real estate developer McCaffery Interests hopes to build this upscale community with roughly 13,575 housing units, 17,500,000 square feet of retail and a 1,500-boat marina on the 589-acre site over the next few decades. “This [roadway] effort is part of a push to connect a forgotten, landlocked section of the Southeast Side of Chicago to the rest of the city, increasing its economic value,” Emanuel said. “What was once an eyesore will become an economic engine.”

Continue reading An extended LSD trip?

Grid Shots: Nature

Today is Earth Day. Although I’d argue that every day is earth day. The theme of today’s Grid Shots photo post is “nature”. When it comes to sustainable transportation, the most likely place you’ll discover the connection with nature is on a multi-use trail. And there’s where all of these photos were taken, by Joshua Koonce and Michelle Stenzel.

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Cycling on Northerly Island. This used to be an airport and runway called Meigs Field until former mayor Richard M. Daley sent work crews in the middle of the night to bulldoze X’s in the runway. The island (really a manmade peninsula) is now a bird sanctuary. Photo by MS.

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The Lakefront Trail is closed because of heavy wind and waves in October 2011. Photo by MS.

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People walk on the Bloomingdale Trail. Photo by JK.

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A guy rides his tricycle selling helado de coco, or coconut sorbet, in Humboldt Park. Photo by JK.

Bike sharing and speed cameras ordinances pass in today’s Chicago City Council meeting

This article will be updated a few times after publishing while I gather all the information. All regular city council meetings are streamed live with video and transcript and that is where I am getting all of the information.

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Alderman Cardenas of the 12th ward speaks in support of the speed camera ordinance.

Bike sharing

Bike sharing passes City Council, 46-1. Alderman Robert Fioretti (2nd) was the sole alderman to vote against the ordinance. The system will launch in September 2012.

Margarent Laurino (39th, chair of the committe on pedestrian and traffic safety) gave a prepared statement.

Colón (35th) talks about his experience in Seville, Spain, in March 2011. The city made investments in bicycle facilities, and bike sharing, and saw an enormous increase in the number of people cycling there.

Continue reading Bike sharing and speed cameras ordinances pass in today’s Chicago City Council meeting