While one bike lane project is moving forward in Evanston, another one may be stalled by higher than expected costs.
Work is starting today on an extension of the Church Street bike lane through the Evanston Township High School campus, but nothing’s happening yet on a project to convert the bike lanes on Dodge Avenue, now exposed to vehicle traffic, to a protected bike lane model like the one used on Church Street.
The protected bike lane on Church Street downtown.
City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz says bids for the Dodge Avenue project came in much higher than expected, and it’s one of many current-year capital improvement projects that are up for review by the City Council at a meeting Monday night.
With millions of dollars in state aid to the city thrown into question by the budget impasse in Springfield, and with a relatively booming construction industry leading to higher costs for many projects, city officials are trying to keep a tight rein on spending for the remainder of this year.
The Dodge bike lane project could be especially vulnerable, because even though the city has received a $480,000 federal grant to help fund it, aldermen only approved it last fall by a 6-3 vote amid concerns about how many parking spaces would be lost with the new design.
The bike lane is planned to run from Howard Street to Church Street and provide a major access route for students going to and from Evanston Township High School.
Meanwhile some residents in the area are complaining that while the city talks about the new project, the pavement markings for the existing bike lane on Dodge have faded so much that they’re nearly invisible.
Replanning needed
The city needs to seriously rethink the bike lane plans. The current “protected lanes” do nothing more than trap bicyclists in a narrow corridor where they (we) are in danger of being hit by clueless drivers (look at the number of damaged markers), car doors, and pedestrians who think the bike lane is an extension of the side walk.
I cannot imaging how protected lanes on Dodge will fair any better than the lanes on Church and Davis. Maybe if someone actually talked to the bike-commuters.
Stop the conspicuous
Stop the conspicuous overdevelopment on Dodge. Just put down paint to define the previous lanes, erased since at least last winter. Put some of the mayor's teenage employment program pacticipants to work. Better than learning to lean on brooms.
Bike Lanes & Safety
Even though there are painted bike lanes on Dodge (albeit the paint is severely faded), I continually "dodge" bicyclists who are using the sidewalks when out walking my dogs. Having biked on Dodge myself, the issue is really the speeding traffic. In ALL of southwest Evanston, bicyclists consistently use the sidewalks and it is because the streets literally feel too unsafe to use when you are on a bicycle. For that matter, they are too unsafe to attempt to cross as a pedestrian, one of whom was hit by a speeding vehicle on Dodge just a few short weeks ago.
Residents on this side of town have plead for traffic smoothing in an effort to check the rampant speeding that goes on here, but little is done to help bring safety as well as quality of life assistance to us. No matter how you slice it, these streets are by and large residential and we need help. Asbury, Dodge, Ridge, Oakton, Main and Dempster residents would all benefit from a few well-placed STOP signs and crosswalks. Our neighbors to the north and east have traffic controls in place and we would like to see similar protections added in our neighborhood. When will Evanston finally realize it should protect ALL of its tax-paying residents? Even Chicago knows how to do that! Case in point? Drive down Dodge in Evanston where traffic controls do not exist and vehicles speed from one red light to the next. As soon as you hit Howard where Dodge turns into California, traffic slows to safe speeds because Chicago recognizes they need to protect their residents and they've done so with a few well-placed STOP signs. Did you know that the speed limit on Ridge Avenue in Chicago is 25 MPH? Evanston officials should be embarrassed for letting the raceway that is SW Evanston exist as long as it has. Bring safety to our streets and bicyclists will use them instead of the sidewalks. This protected bike lane effort is nothing more than our fair city attempting to continue the raceway and ignore quality of life issues and safety issues for the tax-paying residents in this area of town.
Stop signs don’t slow traffic
Stop signs are for assigning right-of-way, not slowing traffic. When unwarranted stop signs are placed where they aren't needed and people realize they are only stopping because there is a sign, but not because someone else is at the intersection they 1.) perform more rolling stops through the intersection and 2.) accelerate/decelerate quickly with higher speeds between stop signs. Neither of these are good for safety. People drive at speeds they generally feel comfortable with. So, to slow traffic, make the lanes narrower and less comfortable for drivers.
Insane Bike Lanes
Too expensive, unmaintained, wanton removal of needed parking for residents/tax payers, outlandish routes, bollards akimbo…. It goes on and on. So the Dodge Avenue portion may need to be scrapped or postponed because of funding. Why not use the funding we do have to re-paint the bike lane lines along the route AS IT IS. Come to think of it, with all the brouhaha that surrounds each new segment that is proposed, it may be time to think more clearly about the overall bike plan. Bikes belong on the streets moving in the direction of traffic and regulated by the same traffic signals as cars. Let's get some lines on these streets and forget these overpriced, poorly designed protected boondoggles. Any extra money should be spent on educating bicyclists regarding the RULES OF THE ROAD. And one more thing, let's license bicyclists. Those funds could go to maintaining route signage and support ongoing education.
Stay tuned. Wait until you see the protected bike lane route up Chicago Avenue linking with Sheridan Road. As it stands now, it will be a two way protected lane on the west side of Chicago Avenue that CROSSES OVER to the east side of Sheridan Road diagonally across the broad, well-travelled intersection of these two streets at the south end of NU's campus! Disaster, confusing, questionable functionality.
Zigzagging bike routes running counter to traffic only reinforce bicyclists perception that they can ride anywhere they want. Like I said – insanity.
I disagree
I disagree and believe that more protected bike lanes are a much needed improvement for the city. It is difficult and unsafe to travel by bike in many parts of Evanston particularly along Dodge near Vali produce. Also, I strongly support the two-way bike lane along Chicago ave. With how densely populated Evanston is, making it easy and safe for residents to bike is paramount.
I think your licencing idea is worth consider, provided that the fees are not overly prohibitive.
I would support a 2-lane bike
I would support a 2-lane bike lane on Chicago if it weren't going to cross over 4 lanes of traffic to go from the east side to the west at a congested intersection. Why not just keep it on the west side?