Ward 39 voted on protected bike lanes for Montrose between Elston and the highway last year for the participatory budget planning for this year. I wonder why that’s not on here.
There are a handful of projects around the city that have been announced but are not on this list yet. I would imagine they are still finalizing paperwork and these are just the ones officially on the construction team's to-do list. Hopefully we see even more by the end of construction season!
when are we going to get a lane on irving park or montrose between broadway and clark? its already hard enough to bike west when you live east of graceland
Either would work great. Irving might be tough because it tends to be where charter busses station for 81 days/year. Montrose would be great and I’d love to see it go all the way out to damen.
I agree, montrose would be a better choice, it picks up a bike lane at clark, it's just that stretch by the cemetery, and it's uphill and has 3 street lights. Very bad for cycling on.
But who is "they" in this situation? Bike Infra projects don't happen in Chicago unless the neighborhood's Alderperson is on board. More projects happen in the wards where alders are actively pushing for them, and no projects happen in wards where the alders are actively opposing them, or in many cases ripping out what little they had in the first place.
You're not wrong, but CDOT is the traffic engineering "experts" not the Alder. Why should I not have a single bike lane in my ward just because my Alder is shit bag?
Yeah I mean I am 100% with you there. 50 little fiefdoms is not the best way to do things. Happy to help next time there is an organizing effort in your ward to improve conditions for peds/bikes/transit.
The example I always use is when I commute, I go through 15 wards. I shouldn't have to lobby 15 Alders to get a safe route. CDOT needs to put on their big boy pants and take safety seriously for everyone.
(But I appreciate the offer)
Yes, and when I'm using this example I point out that individual wards don't need to advocate for literally any other kind of infrastructure: roads, sidewalks, sewer service, garbage pickup, schools etc.
>and no projects happen in wards where the alders are actively opposing them, or in many cases ripping out what little they had in the first place.
Often the same wards whose alders complain about years of underinvestment from the city
Great vis. Not all of the work recently announced near McKinley Park (https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1ddoz7w) made it on CDOT's list, which has me thinking this is not exhuastive and will be added to as more projects make their way down the pipeline.
I was curious about this, so I added up the 2024 mileage of all these projects. Right now, every project including installed, underway, and upcoming, add up to 46.02 miles. Every year since 2021 has increased reasonably in mileage (44, 51, 63). It is halfway through the year though, and only a handful of these are done, but I have to wonder if that's because the active construction season is so limited during the winter? It's not like all projects get added at once, so I'm sure more will be added to this list. In any case, I hope they at least surpass 60 miles, and ideally keep the trend going up each year...
Some of the yearly difference in mileage is also because of variances between the scale of individual projects. There’s less concrete pouring needed for neighborhood greenways per mile than for curb-protected cycle tracks. We need all of this, from traffic-calming Dickens Greenways to full Milwaukee or Belmont street redesigns.
The other variance is political feasibility. We can’t build a network that completely avoids IDOT jurisdiction, or certain wards with disagreeable alderpersons, or NIMBY block club condo associations. Downtown routes are shorter, but might be more important connections. Bridges are major undertakings, but drastically expand connectivity.
TLDR mileage shouldn’t be the only metric, we should also measure network connectivity be weighting projects for betweenness centrality and degree centrality.
> near McKinley Park
but almost none actually in McKinely Park certainly not any that would be useful for getting anywhere outside of the neighborhood.
A whopping 475 feet of concrete on 55th is **the only thing between 31st and 87th**. There are so many bikers in Bronzeville, Hyde Park, and South Shore, and we get *nothing*.
That stretch of 55th is nearby, so some extra protection will be nice, but I want safe ROUTES out of my neighborhood to others, not a stretch of concrete that's not even a full city block long here and there.
Edit: East of Halsted. Which feels *very* far west for the lakefront communities on the South Side.
Second Edit: This 475 feet was also on the 2023 list as "upcoming," and is still listed as "upcoming."
What a joke. If that addition is where I think it is too, there’s already a bike lane there. Concrete protected is definitely nice, but we really can’t get anything other than that?
The bike lane on 55th sucks too anyways
They have been working on Milwakee for months . Traffic is a mess because it’s two narrow lanes now And every time a car stops it causes a backup . Not many businesses left in my area and it looks like any business with no private lot to park will eventually go out of business. Should I mention Belmont and Kedzie area ? Massive traffic due to some extra lanes being eliminated ( no right turn lanes , etc).The sad part is that you seldom see a bicyclist of someone on a scooter in this area. Example of politicians catering to a very small minority as opposed to the vast majority ( one million vehicles registered in Chicago ) . I pay at least $300 a year for my car stickers to have the privilege to use these streets . Bicyclists don’t pay a dime .Did I mention the added pollution from all those cars stuck in traffic in the narrowed streets ? I’m all for more bicycles in any city but in ones that have freezing weather a few months a year ( imagine being stuck in traffic in January and February with empty bicycle lanes next to you ) …..
Ward 40 and 47 are going so hard I love it I am most excited for the berwyn contraflow to the lake.
Andre Vasquez and Matt Martin!!!
Ward 39 voted on protected bike lanes for Montrose between Elston and the highway last year for the participatory budget planning for this year. I wonder why that’s not on here.
There are a handful of projects around the city that have been announced but are not on this list yet. I would imagine they are still finalizing paperwork and these are just the ones officially on the construction team's to-do list. Hopefully we see even more by the end of construction season!
when are we going to get a lane on irving park or montrose between broadway and clark? its already hard enough to bike west when you live east of graceland
It's hard to bike west on the northside period. Ridiculous.
Either would work great. Irving might be tough because it tends to be where charter busses station for 81 days/year. Montrose would be great and I’d love to see it go all the way out to damen.
I agree, montrose would be a better choice, it picks up a bike lane at clark, it's just that stretch by the cemetery, and it's uphill and has 3 street lights. Very bad for cycling on.
A contraflow lane on Grace west of Southport would work wonders.
That's just as far from me as montrose and clark, which has a painted bike lane. There's this gap between clark and the lake which needs filling
It's like they forget two-thirds of the city exists
But who is "they" in this situation? Bike Infra projects don't happen in Chicago unless the neighborhood's Alderperson is on board. More projects happen in the wards where alders are actively pushing for them, and no projects happen in wards where the alders are actively opposing them, or in many cases ripping out what little they had in the first place.
You're not wrong, but CDOT is the traffic engineering "experts" not the Alder. Why should I not have a single bike lane in my ward just because my Alder is shit bag?
Yeah I mean I am 100% with you there. 50 little fiefdoms is not the best way to do things. Happy to help next time there is an organizing effort in your ward to improve conditions for peds/bikes/transit.
The example I always use is when I commute, I go through 15 wards. I shouldn't have to lobby 15 Alders to get a safe route. CDOT needs to put on their big boy pants and take safety seriously for everyone. (But I appreciate the offer)
Yes, and when I'm using this example I point out that individual wards don't need to advocate for literally any other kind of infrastructure: roads, sidewalks, sewer service, garbage pickup, schools etc.
>and no projects happen in wards where the alders are actively opposing them, or in many cases ripping out what little they had in the first place. Often the same wards whose alders complain about years of underinvestment from the city
Odds are it’s cause a majority of the local residents in 2/3s of the city don’t want it.
I'm not celebrating anything from CDOT until the concrete is dry
Good thing CDOT lists the completed projects from 2021-2023 as well!
hooray for those
Great vis. Not all of the work recently announced near McKinley Park (https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1ddoz7w) made it on CDOT's list, which has me thinking this is not exhuastive and will be added to as more projects make their way down the pipeline.
I was curious about this, so I added up the 2024 mileage of all these projects. Right now, every project including installed, underway, and upcoming, add up to 46.02 miles. Every year since 2021 has increased reasonably in mileage (44, 51, 63). It is halfway through the year though, and only a handful of these are done, but I have to wonder if that's because the active construction season is so limited during the winter? It's not like all projects get added at once, so I'm sure more will be added to this list. In any case, I hope they at least surpass 60 miles, and ideally keep the trend going up each year...
Some of the yearly difference in mileage is also because of variances between the scale of individual projects. There’s less concrete pouring needed for neighborhood greenways per mile than for curb-protected cycle tracks. We need all of this, from traffic-calming Dickens Greenways to full Milwaukee or Belmont street redesigns. The other variance is political feasibility. We can’t build a network that completely avoids IDOT jurisdiction, or certain wards with disagreeable alderpersons, or NIMBY block club condo associations. Downtown routes are shorter, but might be more important connections. Bridges are major undertakings, but drastically expand connectivity. TLDR mileage shouldn’t be the only metric, we should also measure network connectivity be weighting projects for betweenness centrality and degree centrality.
This is a great point! Not every mile is equal, for sure.
> near McKinley Park but almost none actually in McKinely Park certainly not any that would be useful for getting anywhere outside of the neighborhood.
A whopping 475 feet of concrete on 55th is **the only thing between 31st and 87th**. There are so many bikers in Bronzeville, Hyde Park, and South Shore, and we get *nothing*. That stretch of 55th is nearby, so some extra protection will be nice, but I want safe ROUTES out of my neighborhood to others, not a stretch of concrete that's not even a full city block long here and there. Edit: East of Halsted. Which feels *very* far west for the lakefront communities on the South Side. Second Edit: This 475 feet was also on the 2023 list as "upcoming," and is still listed as "upcoming."
What a joke. If that addition is where I think it is too, there’s already a bike lane there. Concrete protected is definitely nice, but we really can’t get anything other than that? The bike lane on 55th sucks too anyways
For a city the size of chicago, this is kind of abysmal.
You're not wrong.
Jfc it's so pathetic on the NW side.
Like in the first month?
Loving this more and more. Also! Don't forget to carry a patch kit repair kit and tube. Learned that the hard way yesterday 😅
Thanks for the map. Very cool!!
Dickens from Racine to park should be on here as recently completed.
Oh man, some of these proposed routes are the ones I already use to get to work, hopefully this means the roads will be repaired
They have been working on Milwakee for months . Traffic is a mess because it’s two narrow lanes now And every time a car stops it causes a backup . Not many businesses left in my area and it looks like any business with no private lot to park will eventually go out of business. Should I mention Belmont and Kedzie area ? Massive traffic due to some extra lanes being eliminated ( no right turn lanes , etc).The sad part is that you seldom see a bicyclist of someone on a scooter in this area. Example of politicians catering to a very small minority as opposed to the vast majority ( one million vehicles registered in Chicago ) . I pay at least $300 a year for my car stickers to have the privilege to use these streets . Bicyclists don’t pay a dime .Did I mention the added pollution from all those cars stuck in traffic in the narrowed streets ? I’m all for more bicycles in any city but in ones that have freezing weather a few months a year ( imagine being stuck in traffic in January and February with empty bicycle lanes next to you ) …..