Chicago bike lanes

By Daria Gruzdeva and Gabriel Clemente

 “Until we get to zero fatalities and curb the conflicts between bicyclists and motorists,” said Dr. Siraj, director of the Metropolitan Transportation Support Initiative. “It will be difficult to label it as the Best”.

Bike lanes are an element of the bicycle infrastructure that provides a physical separation between cyclists and car traffic. Such paths are necessary on high-speed and busy roads, as well as on routes with a high intensity of bicycle traffic and on recreational bicycle routes, often passing separately from the roads. Bike lanes attract inexperienced cyclists and increase their confidence, but at the same time they take up a lot of space and relatively roads. Bicycle lanes provide high traffic safety on stretches, along stretches of roads, but can be quite dangerous at intersections.

 “I am amazed at the progress of the USA in various fields of science and life, but at the same time we cannot provide the convenience of using roads for any types of transportation,” – said John Lix ,junior student in DePaul University, part time Uber driver in Chicago.

According to the Bike Crash Report of 2012, Chicago places third in the number of bicycle commuters among the U.S and second in the largest cities. Injuries happening between 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. which is around rush hour in Chicago.

“The worst scenario is when during the turn the car driver does not notice the bike path because it is not separated from the main roadway, and such a mistake can be fatal for the cyclist”, said Lix “I saw about 3 accidents that happen because of that mistake, “

Not only that, but according to the PeoplePoweredmovement.org, 70% of bike accidents happen in Urban areas because they are in the city because it is a high populated area. In cities, there is heavy traffic and less flexibility for bike safety features and Chicago is no exception and in need of more bike lanes.

They are an element of the bicycle infrastructure that provides a physical separation between cyclists and car traffic. Such paths are necessary on high-speed and busy roads, as well as on routes with a high intensity of bicycle traffic and on recreational bicycle routes, often passing separately from the roads.

 Bike lanes attract inexperienced cyclists and increase their confidence, but at the same time they take up a lot of space and relatively roads. They provide high traffic safety on stretches, along stretches of roads, but can be quite dangerous at intersections.

Chicago currently has more than 200 miles of street-guarded streets, buffered and shared bike lanes, many miles of off-road lanes (including the 18.5-mile lakeside promenade), over 13,000 bike racks and a sheltered big bike parking at many railway stations.

“While 200 miles is a big number, I believe that one needs to look at the connectivity of the network,” said Dr. Siraj. “There are still pockets of the city without any of the infrastructure amenities you are referring to.”

Despite the fact that Chicago is considered one of the richest cycling paths in the city, the safety and quality of these bike paths do not reach the title of “Best Bicycle Paths in the USA.” Of course, Lakefront bike path was made very professional and the quality of this path is amazing but how about the rest of the town?

In addition to the quality of bike lanes, Chicago raises the issue of the safety of the layout of these bike lanes. In most parts of the city, even with good bike paths, the cyclist still feels very insecure. A cyclist must not be driven around in a double continuous lane. A double lane is drawn in those sections of the road where visibility is limited, and it is difficult to make a safe detour. 

“When I just started using the bike as my main transportation tool, it seemed to me that the bike paths in Chicago were just perfect, my main path was from home to the campus, but everything changed  when I needed to hit South of the city,“ – said Daria Petruknina, leading graphic designer at Unitex, UIC junior student. “The bike path was like a field after the bombing, the pits on this bike path were 99 % of the bike lane itself.”

Gabe Klein who was commissioner at the department of Transportation back in 2013 stated in his speech that when The Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 will be complete city will have hundreds of miles of barrier and buffer protected bike lanes, traditional bike lanes, neighborhood greenways, and additional innovative treatments that will create safer streets for bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists.

Spoke routes are important because the most will be going through the loop which is high congestion and can lead to accidents.

Here is a sample of what destinations they want to make it to with just spoke routes in 2015:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MUDXbHXK2HG0qaZ_70sWfLmL8SMSsUqn&usp=sharing

Despite the fact that The Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 provides for a significant increase in bicycle lanes, unfortunately this plan does not include the replacement of asphalt pavement with bicycle lanes already laid in the city. After driving a little from the city center, you can experience all kinds of adrenaline while riding on a mutilated bike path, which looks like yesterday bombs fell on Chicago from the sky.

Of course, as stated that Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, while The Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 is more aimed at improving the movement of cyclists directly in the downtown and at the entrance and exit from the downtown.

“Every day (especially in spring and summer) I encounter the problem of ‘enmity between car drivers and cyclists’ sometimes it seems to me that the arrangement of bicycle paths was done somewhere in the 17th century, when there were no cars,” – said John Lix.

The street with the highest crash rate per mile during the six years studied was a 0.7-miles stretch on Milwaukee Avenue between North Avenue and Division with 50 crashes. Clark Street between Racine and Fullerton Avenues came in second place with 78 collisions in 1.6 miles and Milwaukee Avenue between Fullerton and Armitage came in third with 34 crashes in 0.7 miles, according to DNAinfo.com.

As a director of UIC’s Urban Transportation Center Dr. Siraj said “Whether the bike lanes are curb-side or between the travel lane and curbside parking.  If so, it can lead to “dooring” issues and put bicyclists in danger.”

If not to talk about new bike paths but talk about what already exists. The question of the insecurity of already laid bicycle lanes remains unanswered, how can one begin to do something new if the old requires more attention? Of course, it’s easier to build new than to work with what, what is already and. only after the existing (in this case, Chicago bike paths) professionally completed, you can begin to make new projects.

To score cities across the country on their bike ability, to Bicycling Magazine scoured their own troves of data acquired through survey. According to Bicycling Magazine, the most bicycle-friendly cities in the USA are:

1. New York, New York

2. Portland, Oregon

3. Tucson, Arizona

4. Seattle, Washington

5. Toronto, Canada

6. Austin, Texas

7. Denver, Colorado

8. San Francisco, California

9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

10. Chicago, Illinois

 Even though Chicago has a national reputation as one of the best large cities in the United States for bicycling quality of the roads, there is yet a long way to go still. It’s difficult to label it as the Best at this point, since there are so many accidents and complaints from both sides of the traffic movement.

Even though Chicago has a national reputation as one of the best large cities in the United States for bicycling quality of the roads, there is yet a long way to go still. It’s difficult to label it as the Best at this point, since there is so many accidents and complains from both sides of the traffic movement. Cyclists do need better quality of the old lanes first, then safety of using them and only after new paths. As for the other side of traffic, car drivers demand more regulation on the roads, to avoid fatal accidents, that needs to be done right now. 

Director of METSI & Research Programs Dr. Siraj commented “The city of Chicago has a very strong bicycle user group and over the last decade or so has put in place bicycle friendly infrastructure in many parts of the city,” Director of METSI & Research Programs Dr. Siraj commented, “Consequently, I would somewhat agree with the # 10 in the rank. But even more should be done to make it more bike friendly.”