Even More Protected Bike Lanes to Serve Downtown Chicago
Protected bike lanes on Kinzie Street. (Josh Koonce/Flickr)
In a city where bicyclists may share a lane with Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein, last year’s promise by Mayor Rahm Emanuel of 100 miles of protected bike paths was cause for celebration. Chicago’s latest project, announced Sunday, will be a protected lane along Dearborn Street in the Loop that will run in both directions from Polk to Kinzie.
The new route connects the near north side with the south loop and is designed to appeal to young, tech-savvy commuters who work downtown.
“It will help us recruit the type of people that have been leaving for the coast,” Emanuel said. “They will now come to the city of Chicago.”
The Active Transportation Alliance circulated a petition to hold the Mayor’s administration to its word. Others, like the Sun-Times’ Mark Konkol, have called protected lanes a waste of money and decried a faulty “cyclist culture” that makes streets more dangerous for pedestrians and bikers alike.
Chicago will add 22 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of the year, bringing the city’s total to 33 miles.
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Great that we’re getting new lanes, but are they really “protected?” The first bike lanes on Kinzie were supposed to have Jersey Barriers separating them from the road. What we got instead were plastic posts. If we’re not getting the more rugged lanes then what is happening to the money that was originally allocated for Jersey Barriers? Not plastic posts?
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