Chicago Unveils First Protected Bike Lane, More On The Way
Construction Of 2nd Bike Lane On Jackson Begins In August
Cars park adjacent to bike lane eastbound on Kinzie
Visually confusing and completely foreign to Chicago motorists, pedestrians and bikers, the city unveiled its first protected bike lane on Kinzie Street this past Monday according to Huffington Post Chicago.
The lanes begins at Milwaukee Ave. and runs eastward to its endpoint at Wells Street.
The bike lane, which uses vertical plastic tubing planted in the asphalt and paint markings to designate a wide bicycles only lane between the curb and parking for motor vehicles. Parking spaces have been moved from the curb further into the street to allow for the designated bike lane.
According to the report in Huffington Post Chicago and other media accounts, bikers using the lanes feel safer. riding their two wheeled vehicles. Whether or not the designated bike lane will translate into actual improvements to safety will have to be seen.
While these bike lanes are too new for a fair assessment, in New York City where protected bike lanes have a slightly longer history, some bike riders there feel the designated bike lanes are a “death trap.”
The Chicago Department of Transportation which spent $140,000 on the Kinzie St. bike lane announced Monday Jackson Boulevard between Damen and Halsted will be the location for the city’s second bike lane with construction starting in August.
Here’s the Huffington Post Chicago’s full story, “Chicago Completes Installation Of First Protected Bike Lane, Announces Second On The Way.”
Only $140,000 – must be great that Chicago doesn’t have a budget problem. Oh, wait…
What would you expect from thug-politician central.
The money comes from a federal grant Darren.
“The money comes from a federal grant Darren.”
And there, in a nutshell, is the problem with our Government…. idiots who think it’s all OK because it’s federal money, as if that makes it free.
If Chicago thinks this is a great idea, why don’t they pay for it with their own money, instead of making the rest of the country pay for it?
What happens when it snows out. No snowplow could fit in such a small area.The property owners will shovel the sidewalk right into the bike lane.
If merely stating a fact rather than blindly lashing out at “thug-politician central” makes me an idiot than so be it. At least I’m an informed idiot rather than an uninformed one. And for your information Paul Chicago and Illinois as a whole get back pennies on every dollar that we give the feds. Who gets the rest? The self-sufficient, fiscally responsible rugged states and individuals of teabaglandia who get more than a dollar back for every dollar they put in. No wonder they rail about federal spending, must be though to live on other peoples money. But facts are for idiots, so have a nice day.
You’re a moron Paul. You too Darren.
Paul and Darren. 140,000 is pennies in the bucket. The continued upkeep for construction of these streets for car use would be 15x that every 5-10 years due to the fact that instead of a 2-3 ton car rolling over it there is a 1-200 lbs person and bike rolling. If anything this will reduce future construction cost.