New Lanes on 55th St. a Learning Curve

-posted by chicago pop

It is truly amazing what good urban design is capable of. New lines on the street, and a few physical impediments to nudge behavior in the desired direction, and we already have tangible benefits: traffic moving at a much slower pace the length of 55th, improved safety for pedestrians at crosswalks, and more cyclists riding in the street - as they should be - with more confidence.

The sticky part is getting motorists to go with the new parking program, and park away from the curb. As of last week, local car owners must still be thinking all that new paint on the street was some kind of public art:

To their credit, on at least one block in about this area last week, I saw about half a dozen cars parking in the boxed lane BETWEEN the curbside bike lane and the lane of traffic - where the cars are supposed to go. But those vehicles were a minority.

That may change quickly, however, if - as the HPP reader who submitted these photos reports -- vehicles parked in the bike lanes continue to receive tickets, as they began to last week. 

It would help, also, if more bollards were deployed to make parking in the bike lane physically impossible. My assumption was that these were on the way, but I don't know. It would make sense, after all this effort, to situate the bollards in such a way that the desired behavior was perfectly clear.

Everything comes with a learning curve. Even if it takes a few weeks for the locals get the hang of this, or maybe even the rest of the summer, in the long term it's what we call here at HPP 'real goddamn progress.' A round of applause to CDOT and to the Adlermen and traffic engineers and cycling/pedestrian activists who made this a reality. Sometimes an ingenious idea really can make the world a little bit more civilized.

Meeting on CDOT Plan to put Bike Lanes on 55th

 -posted by chicago pop

Props to 4th Ward Alderman Will Burns. This is one of the best ideas I've heard about in a while. It's all about slowing things down. And when it comes to crazy traffic on the South Side's underutilized roadways, that's how it should be.

Substantial stretches of King Drive, 31st Street, and 55th/Garfield would be altered to incorporate protected bike lanes, and improved pedestrian safety and crosswalks. This would be done at the expense of lane space currently devoted to vehicular traffic. As a CDOT rep put it on the GRID Chicago blog:

CDOT traffic counts show that all of these roadways currently have more travel lanes and/or lane width than needed to accommodate their traffic volume, and this encourages motorists to drive dangerously. While studies show that road diets work well on streets that serve under 20,000 cars a day, actually improving traffic flow in many cases, 55th Street currently serves only 13,500 cars a day and King Drive only carries 9,000 to 11,500 cars per day. Due to the lack of congestion on these roadways, the agency found that 54% of cars on King are speeding, and 15% or motorists are driving over 40 MPH.

I'm sure lots of cyclists will agree with this traffic analysis based on their personal experience. Here again we see the pathological effects of the South Side's loss of density relative to historic levels: streets like King, Cottage, Indiana, 55th and others are far wider than their current levels of traffic would demand.

The North Side can only dream of having the kind of capacity we have down here. King Drive has 8 lanes! 55th is likewise quite broad as it passes through western Hyde Park and so encourages speeding and disregard for pedestrians.

So why not make room for bikes?

Details on the meeting:

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is presenting on the 55^th Street safety improvement project this Wednesday, April 25, from 6:30 – 8pm. This project, between Cottage Grove and Lake Park, seeks to create a safe and comfortable roadway for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit users accessing Washington Park, the University of Chicago, Hyde Park, and the Lakefront. The main features include enhanced pedestrian crosswalks and signage, protected and buffered bike lanes, and a ‘Road Diet’ between Cottage Grove and Kenwood.

The meeting is open to the public.

Date:                           Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Time:                           6:30 – 8:00 p.m. 

            Reception:                   6:30 – 7:00 p.m.

            Presentation:   7:00 – 7:30 p.m.  

            Q & A:                         7:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Location:                     Alumni House in the Klowden Library

    5555 South Woodlawn Avenue 60637

Presentation by CDOT Project Development Staff:  Deputy Commissioner Luann Hamilton and Project Manager Mike Amsden

Thanks to HPP reader PM for the update.

Cornell Avenue Gets a Sidewalk!

posted by chicago pop

One of the lesser-known barriers cutting off Hyde Park from the rest of the world is the absence of a sidewalk along Cornell Avenue as it runs along Burnham Park from 49th to 47th Streets.

This leafy stretch, which in summer offers the rudiments of a Madison County fantasy to motorists, has also acted as a green buffer zone between the Indian Village area and 47th Street. As anyone who drives this road can tell you, the lack of a sidewalk forces pedestrians to walk in the street year round, sharing space with vehicles often moving at high speed in both directions.

Laying down a sidewalk along this stretch is therefore a long-overdue but major improvement in pedestrian safety, walkability, and connectedness with the rest of Chicago. Bravo to whatever arm of City bureaucracy (or perhaps the 4th Ward Alderman?) is making this happen -- if they can do this, surely they can fix a bus stop that doubles as a bottomless pit!

The Bus Stops of Hyde Park

posted by chicago pop

Don't fall in!

CTA Bus Stop, 4th Ward
51st and Cornell Avenue