Tag: Chicago

Portland’s Mia Birk gives Chicago a pep talk on handling the bike lane backlash

[flickr]photo:6253934246[/flickr]

Mia Birk – photo by Serge Lubomudrov

Last week Steven and I attended Active Transportation Alliance’s 25th anniversary celebration, where we heard legendary transportation guru Mia Birk deliver an inspiring speech to the crowd of city officials, transportation planners and advocates. Birk helped turn Portland, Oregon, into a cycling Mecca when she served as bike coordinator there in the 1990s and now heads Alta Planning + Design, specializing in biking, walking and trails projects.

Birk gave a warning about the media backlash that is likely to result as Chicago implements Mayor Emanuel’s plan to construct 100 miles of protected bike lanes (and launch a large-scale bike share system and build the Bloomingdale Trail and Navy Pier Flyover). She also offered some words of encouragement about how to deal with this criticism.

Continue reading Portland’s Mia Birk gives Chicago a pep talk on handling the bike lane backlash

Grid Shots: New perspectives

Rahm Emanuel has been mayor for 100 days. Toni Preckwinkle has been Cook County president for 100 days. Forrest Claypool has been president of the Chicago Transit Authority for 100 days.

What has happened? What will happen?

[flickr]photo:6078912024[/flickr]

Looking west from the Damen Pink Line CTA station in Pilsen, Chicago. Photo by Chris Diers. 

[flickr]photo:6084293207[/flickr]

A Metra train at the Berwyn, Illinois, station. Photo by Sam Dickey. 

[flickr]photo:6019449390[/flickr]

A Green Line CTA train at about 4700 W Lake Street in Chicago. Photo by Gabriel Xavier Michael.

Add your photos to the Grid Chicago group on Flickr.

Someone else who doesn’t want the High Line in Chicago

Thank you, Alan Brake.

Klein also reiterated the Emanuel Administration’s commitment to building the Bloomingdale Trail. While that project is routinely compared to New York’s High Line park, the Bloomingdale Trail is being conceived as a transportation artery, not a merely as a place for a romantic promenade. It will be the most protected bike lane of all. I can’t wait to take a spin down it, preferably using a shared bike.

From Share The Road, Slash The Parking.

[flickr]photo:5905580979[/flickr]

I love the grittiness (c’mon, this is Chicago) of the old Soo Line along Bloomingdale Avenue. 

New York City’s High Line is a place to see and be seen, but the Bloomingdale Trail will be a place to use. Ride a bike (bikes are banned from the High Line), jog, push a stroller, walk your dog, etc…

[flickr]photo:4951475288[/flickr]

High Line designers were so concerned with cleaner aesthetics, the abandoned railroad viaduct is now beautiful enough to film a commercial (or something) featuring people doing Tai Chi. 

Bloomingdale Trail: A first time exploration plus development update

I ventured onto the Bloomingdale Trail this Independence Day weekend, an abandoned elevated railroad viaduct owned by Canadian Pacific. I encountered at least six other “trail” users in 30 minutes, including people on a stroll, a runner, and a person walking two dogs. I can’t wait for the day when I can ride my bike on a smooth asphalt path between neighborhoods without encountering noisy and polluting automobile traffic. Read on for updates on the contract and design process.

[flickr]photo:5905586405[/flickr]

A Blue Line train passes over the (future) Bloomingdale Trail. Continue reading Bloomingdale Trail: A first time exploration plus development update

The case of the disappearing bike lane

Updated June 22, 2011: Added “Note” section about Vincennes and Roosevelt bike lane removals.

Have you been riding on a Chicago street in the bike lane and noticed how part of the bike lane striping disappears in certain stretches or doesn’t seem to exist at all? The bike map shows it, as do the BIKE LANE signs on the sidewalk.

[flickr]photo:5495350726[/flickr]

This is a photo of the Elston Avenue bike lane, at North Avenue. Or is it? Can you see the bike lane striping or bike symbol on the pavement?

What happened to them?

Continue reading The case of the disappearing bike lane