You can also view
this issue at www.biketraffic.org/biketraffic/BT0904/
or download the PDF at www.biketraffic.org/biketraffic/BT0904.pdf.
| You're not
a member?
Good god, not so loud.
Someone might hear. After all, everyone's fed up with traffic jams,
tired of being afraid on the streets of their own neighborhoods,
sick of dirty air, and done with spending the vacation money on
a new transmission. So they've all joined the Chicagoland Bicycle
Federation and are making a difference (and getting discounts on
maps, at bike shops, and events to boot). So carefully now, slip
off with this issue of Bike Traffic (another member benefit) and
call us or join at www.biketraffic.org.
That was close, but it's gonna be okay. |
| September 12 - Boulevard Lakefront
Tour. Register on-line at biketraffic.org/blt. September 17 - Bicycle Commuter Challenge Awards Luncheon, noon at the Chicago Hilton. has more info: 312/427-3325. September 24-26 - The Federation's Keith Holt teaches the League of American Bicyclists' rider instructor certification course. Call or e-mail (312/427-3325x244)for registration and info. October 28 - Annual Membership Meeting. Top 10 List for 2005 initiatives unveiled. has more: 312/427-3325x 224. |
|
Buy the 4th Edition Chicagoland 7-County
Bike Map! Still $6.95! (Less
than a dollar a county!) |
| Exclamation marks,
or a regiment of Marge Simpsons viewed from behind a fence?!!!!!!!! |
This Man Wants to Install
YOUR Bike Rack! John Greenfield and the
CDOT Bike Rack Program have dozens of shiny new racks ready to install
RIGHT NOW at the site of your choosing. THEY COST YOU NOTHING, and beautify
any establishment. Request one! Request a dozen! Fill out the
on-line form at cityofchicago.org!
on-line form at cityofchicago.org!
|
Chicagoland Bicycle
Federation Board
of Directors: President Dave Seglin, Chicago Treasurer Arthur Gilfand, Chicago Vice-President Corey Coscioni, Chicago Secretary Derrick James, Chicago Directors Aaron Freeman, Chicago Cyd Curtis Mary DeBacker, Chicago Jane Healy Jim Kreps, Chicago Matt Longjohn, M.D. Philip Martin Ellen McKenna, Oak Park Mike Mercuri, Chicago Wayne Mikes, Palatine Elaine Nekritz, Northbrook Susan Plassmeyer, Chicago Judith Rice, Chicago Al Sturges, Park Forest Craig Williams, Oak Park |
In Humboldt Park, bikes are the means to
happier endings
Alex
Wilson believes that by teaching kids to change a bike tire, perhaps he
can change the world--or at least Chicago's Humboldt Park community. Humboldt Park faces many challenges as an urban low-income community trying to raise its children, including headline grabbers like gang activity. But medical researchers have recently sounded the alarms about a more insidious threat: A 2004 study found that 62% of Humboldt Park children to be overweight or obese, more than double the national average.
An innovative program is exploring the bicycle as a simple solution to Humboldt Park's childhood obesity epidemic. BickerBikes is an 8-week summer program for teens that teaches bicycle repair, maintenance, and riding skills. The first class consisted of a three-mile walk from Humboldt Park to the Working Bikes Cooperative at Taylor St. and Western Ave., where the students picked out project bikes they will fix up and keep at the end of the program. Classes are split between hands-on repair sessions and group rides to destinations such as Navy Pier and the Garfield Park Conservatory.
"BickerBikes gets kids moving and that's healthy," said Wilson, who works as the program coordinator. "Empowering kids with a bicycle and the know-how to use it provides them not only with a means of exercise, but also with mobility to safely get around. It makes many more places in the city accessible to them and significantly broadens their horizons."
BickerBikes is a partnership between the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., a community-based, nonprofit developer that has built and rehabbed nearly 1,000 affordable housing units on Chicago's near northwest side. Most of the teens participating are residents of Bickerdike's housing developments. The program is funded by the Local Initiatives Support Corp. and LaSalle Bank, with equipment and supplies donated by Planet Bikes, Boulevard Bikes, Kap Graphics and Working Bikes Cooperative.
After the first few weeks, BickerBikes has already made a major impact on the 14 students in the program.
"BickerBikes changed my life," said DJ, a 14-year-old BickerBike student who is learning to overhaul a mountain bike. "Before, I didn't even go out of the house. My bike will help me go places and get a job."
"I had always wanted to learn how to ride a bike," said Deon, a 13-year-old girl who had never ridden a bike before entering the program. "Now, I ride wherever I need to go."
And while BickerBikes could well serve as a template for communities across the city and the nation to tackle urban problems and improve childhood health, it's been a booming success with local kids for a much simpler reason.
"I've made good friends and had a lot of fun biking!" said Deon, as she strapped on her helmet for a ride with the BickerBikes crew to Montrose Beach.
Boulevard Lakefront Tour 2004 Preview
"Emerald Necklace" picks up some new charms
Sign up today for the 16th Annual Boulevard Lakefront Tour! If you've done the BLT before, you know that this gorgeous ride explores our grand city's "emerald necklace"--the parks, boulevards and historic places on the South and West Sides, and helps fund the programs and activities of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. If you haven't, it's time to join us for this great 35-mile or 10-mile ride!
Be sure to visit biketraffic.org/BLT for complete event information, including a route map. This year's 35-mile BLT route features:
• A rest stop and free tour of the Chicago Center for Green Technology, the nation's first renovated building to receive the coveted LEED Platinum rating from the US Green Building Council. Once an illegal dump, the facility is now an internationally renowned center dedicated to showcasing the latest in green building features and environmentally responsible landscaping.
• A rest stop at historic Prairie Ave. Following the Chicago Fire of 1871, this became the city's most fashionable neighborhood, home to the Armour, Field, Kimball and Pullman families, and once referred to as the "sunny street that held the siften few." (This is right next to the National Vietnam Veteran's Art Museum, which will open their doors early (10 a.m.) for our group. Admission: $6.)
• A rest stop at Douglas Tomb for 10-mile riders. U. S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, who died in 1861 at the age of 48, was an early investor in Chicago real estate, and his tomb stands on land that was once part of his 53-acre estate, "Oakenwald." Douglas Tomb will also serve as a water stop for 35-mile riders.
• At the end of the ride, stop by for a free exterior tour of the newly renovated Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1909 for bicycle manufacturer Frederick C. Robie (Mr. Robie's bicycle business eventually became part of Schwinn Bicycles, then headquarterd in Chicago). The Robie House is just one block north of the start/finish area at 59th and Woodlawn.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! We especially need course marshals, and people to help out at our FUN rest stops. Sign up and get times and locations at biketraffic.org/BLT!
Sign up online, or in our office Sep. 7-10 at 650 S. Clark. Thanks for your support!
Get Kids on Their Feet!
National Walk & Bike to School Day October 6
Independence
+ Energy + Book Bag Slung Across Shoulder = the best part of the school
day, as many of us remember it. Feeling nostalgic for your old school route,
three miles uphill both ways through the snow? Celebrate International Walk
and Bike to School Day in your community with your children and neighbors
on Wednesday, October 6!Mayor Daley walked to a Chicago school in 1997 in support of the first National Walk to School Day, which became the roots of the United States' Safe Routes to School program. This year, we're asking you to get your school involved.
Organize or join students, teachers and parents across Chicago and around the world in celebrating the simple joy of walking and biking--a healthy, active and safe mode of travel to and from school!
Safe Routes to School, a program of the Chicago Department of Transportation, offers pre-event and day-of support for Chicago schools. Visit biketraffic.org/saferoutes for a FREE event toolkit and links to Walk and Bike to School Day sites or call at 312/427-3325 x 240 for more information.
Break the Gridlock Conference wrestles with car dependency
The
sixth annual Break the Gridlock Conference convenes at Garfield Park Conservatory
from noon to 4 p.m., Sunday, October 3. We'll focus on ways to organize
and sustain our collective energy to improve Chicago's conditions for bikers,
walkers, and transit riders and reduce the dominant role of cars in the
transportation system. Break the Gridlock is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to overcoming car dependency in Chicago. The organization has been the launching point for such grassroots initiatives as: Zoning for Transportation Equity Coalition, Bike Winter, Cycling Sisters, Forever Free and Clear, and Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail.
The conference will include a light lunch, a panel/audience discussion on grassroots activism, some lively entertainment, and dynamic break-out sessions for specific interest areas. We kindly request advanced registration as space is limited and the cost is only $10. Register online at www.breakthegridlock.org or contact Nate Hutcheson at (773)325-1909 or .
Janet Attarian
Project Director, Chicago Department of Transportation
Janet
Attarian exemplifies the high level of talent working on bicycle projects
at the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT). She has both BS and
MS degrees from the University of Michigan, is a licensed architect, and
has a minor in Urban Studies. She is the project director for the Streetscape
and Urban Design Program at CDOT. Have you heard about the Riverwalk to be constructed along Wacker Drive? Janet is the project architect for this plan and funding has been received for the stretch between Wabash Ave. and State St. Ultimately, the Riverwalk will run along the full east/west stretch of Wacker Drive.
Janet was one of the architects who conceived the plan for this Riverwalk. Janet was also in charge of the Riverwalk Gateway project that connects the Riverwalk to the Lakefront Trail. This project won a 2002 National American Institute of Architects award for Urban Design, and it's worth a trip downtown just to see this. Janet is also working on plans for a Riverwalk along the North and South branches of the river. Picture your bike commute into the Loop once this is completed!
A front-page headline in the Chicago Tribune a few weeks ago read: "City racks up points with bicycle riders." The article referred to the new Millennium Park municipal bike parking station. Located next to the new Harris Theater on Randolph St. near Michigan Ave. it provides indoor parking for 300 bicycles along with lockers and showers for bicycle commuters. And who was part of the team of architects who designed the space? Janet Attarian, of course! If you haven't already, it is worth a trip into the Loop to see this facility, too. This is the first bike station east of the Rockies and the most elaborate facility of its kind in the country.
Have you cycled along the Lakefront Path between Jane Adams Park and the Chicago River? That's the stretch at Navy Pier. Not an easy ride. Solution? Put the bike trail in the air along Lake Shore Drive. But the "Navy Pier Flyover" is anything but simple. To accomplish this the city must receive a permanent easement for air rights from Lake Point Towers just to the East of the proposed path. This too is one of Janet's projects and Janet reports that Lake Point Towers is cooperating with the city as this plan progresses.
There's more. We know the word "landscape." "Streetscape" has a similar meaning but refers to "streets" rather than "land." Take Clark St., for example. Ever try riding along Clark around Belmont or Diversey? What's the problem? The street is too narrow for bikes and cars. Solution? Eliminate parking along one side of the street. In the future there will be no parking along the southbound lanes during the morning rush hours to provide space for bicycles and buses.
Who is the "Streetscape Program" director? Janet Attarian. Do you like the streetscapes along the downtown streets? Janet has a plan to extend these streetscapes to commercial areas in other parts of the city.
Ever heard of the Valley Line Bike Trail? Probably not. It's a new off-road trail that Janet is trying to complete by obtaining an easement from Commonwealth Edison for land between Devon and Bryn Mawr west of Pulaski. The development of the off-road trail along the North Branch of the Chicago River is progressing nicely; you may be surprised that you can now pass under both Bryn Mawr and Foster avenues. In the not-too-distant future you will also pass under the intersection of Peterson and Lincoln avenues.
We know this is a great bicycling city, but it's getting better day-by-day, thanks to the vision and efforts of Janet Attarian.
2004 Bike the Drive by the Numbers
Miles of smiles, tons of fun
It's difficult to capture the experience in words of 16,000 people riding bikes on a car-free Lake Shore Drive. Just like the momentum distribution of top quarks,* the story of the 2004 Bike the Drive is best communicated in numbers:
402,795: Number of miles pedaled by Bike The Drive participants
$53,700: How much gas would cost if you drove that far in an SUV
7,543: Volunteer hours (THANK YOU!)
6,500: Bananas consumed
7,964: Pancakes flipped
16,000: Clif Bars consumed
12,000: Cookies consumed
10,000: Mini-muffins consumed
5,000: Mini-bagels consumed
7,000: Lifeway Kefir drinks consumed
5,000: Bags of California Raisins consumed (or multiply by, um, about 200 to get individual raisins consumed: 1,000,000)
2: Kilometers of Stretch Island Fruit Leather consumed (unstretched)
120: Porta-johns rented
740: Barricades and verticades used to make Lake Shore Drive safe
Tons: Effort by the Chicago Department of Transportation, the Chicago Police Department, and the Mayor's Office of Special Events to make Bike The Drive great
1,934: Number of sacrifices made to the gods to keep the rain away
$180,000: Money raised to make Chicagoland a better place to bicycle
(* I would have said "the Hoover Dam," but there's no arguing with numbers people--Ed.)
Spurring Development
Southland communities keen to connect to Old Plank Road Trail
When the Old Plank Road Trail (OPRT) was proposed in 1980 homeowners predicted disaster. They foresaw problems of crime, noise, vandalism and declining property values. Twenty-five years later, most south suburban folks would say that paved bicycle paths are assets, not nuisances. Home appraisers view proximity to a trail as a plus, raising property values. Real estate developers have been quick to transmute trail names into new subdivision monikers, and homeowners who fought the trail are now supporters. Homeowners landscaping the trailside access to their backyards with flowers and connecting paths is a strong indicator of satisfaction.
Since the OPRT opened in 1997, developers of new subdivisions in the towns and villages that abut the trail regularly include 10'-wide paved connector trails in their plans. Local planning departments now view paths as one more amenity like trees, buffers, greenways and landscaping.
"Trail system linkages have moved up on our priority list. That is what people need and want," said Julie Kurczewski, Manhatten Park District director at a recent public forum.
In nearby Mokena, the developers of Whisper Creek are proposing to provide 35 acres of open space including a 10-foot-wide bicycle path that would tie into the trail in the Boulder Ridge subdivision. Many developments south of the OPRT in the Village of Frankfort already have paved trail segments. Richton Park, Park Forest, Matteson: these towns and others along the OPRT also have connecting trails built or in the works.
New Lenox Earns its Spurs
In 1985, New Lenox township officials refused to participate in OPRT planning efforts. In 1989, residents passed a non-binding referendum opposing the use of tax dollars for trail purposes.
Since then, opposition to trails has declined in the New Lenox area. In the past five years the town has built two spur trails that intersect the OPRT and it now plans to build a connection to the town's commons area and to provide a safe link for kids to access a new movie theater complex.
New Lenox officials recently unveiled plans for a 251-acre development south of the OPRT to be called Village Station. The plans call for 3.6 miles of trails. One trustee wanted to see the bicycle trail extended to connect with businesses along Laraway Road. He also called for a pedestrian overpass across Laraway.
Lots of Will County communities are relying on the proposed I-355 extension to be an economic engine. In terms of economic return on investment, the now-treasured OPRT probably gives that billion-dollar project a serious run for its money. And it certainly lends itself to more-inviting subdivision names.
Best Practice Bike Plans
How does your town's bike plan stack up?
A community actively engaged in planning for bicycles is a community that acknowledges two important things. First, promoting bicycling and creating a safe and convenient bicycling environment is good for the social, economic and environmental heath of the community. Second, good planning pays off. When done well, it opens the doors for new sources of grant money and can spread implementation costs across a number of different agencies.
There are many excellent examples of Chicagoland communities that have made planning for bicycles a priority. The best of these plans share a few of the same key ingredients.
Action-Oriented
The best indicator of a quality bike plan is the result. Did the plan make a difference for bicyclists? Did the plan positively impact the bicycling environment? A great example is the Evanston Bicycle System Improvement Plan. Completed in 2002, the plan proposes a complete network of bike lanes, bike routes and trails. Streets were measured to determine exactly what could be done where, and new off-street connections were closely studied. With their homework done, Evanston was able to secure a federal grant last year and recently hired a consultant to begin transforming the lines on the map into lines on the street.
Bike plans are also living documents and need to be reassessed regularly. The Village of Schaumburg approved its first Bikeways Plan in 1980 and has updated that plan every six years. The village uses the plan to leverage grant funding in addition to allocating general revenue to fill in the gaps.
Comprehensive Approach
Good bike planning is not simply drawing lines on the map. An emerging trend in bike planning and advocacy is the concept of "Complete Streets." As the name implies, the goal of this concept is to ensure that all streets accommodate all travelers.
DuPage County recently passed a policy similar to Complete Streets: the "Healthy Roads Initiative." The usual model separates bikeway planning from roadway planning. Healthy Roads requires that bikeway planning be an integral part of every road project, greatly increasing bike friendliness at little cost. Instead of relying on dedicated bikeway funding, Dupage County's policy expands the responsibility for building and financing bikeways to all agencies doing road work in the county.
Whose Plan is it Anyway?
Effective bike planning means talking to the experts: you. Bicyclists know better than anyone what can be done to make biking a more comfortable, more convenient way to travel. They know the good routes, but they also know which streets need to be improved.
Elgin is doing an outstanding job of tapping the bicyclist's brain. With a mix of city and grant funding, the Elgin Community Network organized a series of community bicycle planning meetings. These meetings put the power in the people's hands, letting residents determine what improvements are needed and where.
Even with public input, a bike plan without support from municipal staff is destined to gather dust on a shelf. Elgin developed a steering committee representing different agencies and organizations. This committee has developed an exciting new synergy where a common interest in bicycling has led to new partnerships.
A guided bicycle tour can help bring municipal staff on board. As part of Skokie's bicycle plan, interested citizens and village staff toured the village by bike. Not only a great way to collect first-hand information about the good and bad of bicycling in a community, a bike tour is fun and builds enthusiasm and support, significantly impacting what gets done.
What About Your Community?
Chicagoland communities cannot afford to ignore planning for bikes. Communities who take planning for bicycles seriously recognize that getting more people on bikes is a key to creating a healthy community. Is your community is actively planning to improve bicycling? Check out the suburban program pages under "campaigns" at biketraffic.org.
Evanston: www.cityofevanston.org/Departments/Parks-Forest-Rec/bike-plan/
Elgin: www.cityofelgin.org/citymanager/en/en_ppoverview.html
DuPage County: biketraffic.org/biketraffic/BT0404/
Skokie: www.skokie.org/comm/compplan.html
Schaumburg: www.ci.schaumburg.il.us.
Boulevard Lakefront Tour registration is OPEN. Join us September 12 for a genteel tour of Chicago's world-renowned parks that pin down its neighborhoods and the bucolic boulevards that connect them. Register today at biketraffic.org/blt.
When you drive, you're still a bicycle
advocate. Or you could be. Click the
sign above to take the pledge. Or read about the Driver's Pledge in the
December 2002/January
2003 Bike Traffic.
Forest Park shops by bike. Forest
Park wants you to shop by bike! To get you to want to, they're offering.
Shop By Bike shoppers a card to be punched at participating businesses.
Completed cards will be entered into a gigantic, multi-prize raffle. The
program will kick off September 11 at the French Market on Madison Street
and will run until October 30. Check out biketraffic.org
for more information.
Better bicycling environment=more bikes sold. That
equation seems self-evident, but getting the bicycle industry to apply
it is still too rare an occurrence. Outdoor recreation retailer REI,
Inc. did the math and on August 18 handed Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
Executive Director Rob Sadowksy a check for $3000. "We are pleased to
recognize the hard work and dedication to cycling safety and awareness
that the Chicagoland Bicycling Federation shows year after year," said
Erin McNally, Special Events Coordinator at REI. We used the money to
plaster the ad above (click it to see the whole ad) on 100 CTA buses.
The ads run for eight weeks starting in August. QED!
Northwest suburban, Southland dates
set for Cook County bicycling workshops. The
"Improving Bicycling, Improving Communities" workshops give you and other
Cook County residents the opportunity to help the county, along with the
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, develop policies that improve and encourage
bicycling on county bike paths and streets. Dates and places are now set
for northwest and south suburban residents:
Northwest: 7 to 8 p.m., September 15, Arlington Heights Village
Hall (1st Floor in the Buechner Room), 33 S Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington
Heights
Southland: 7 to 8:30 p.m, September 27, East Hazel Crest Village
Hall, on Dixie one block north of 175th St. light, north side of Metra
lot.
More information at biketraffic.org.
Bike the Vote rocks the Plaza. In
its quest to register one new voter for every mile rode (3,500), the cross-country
trekkers from Bike the Vote! visited fallow ground at Daley Plaza on July
21. Simultaneously underscoring the civic importance of voting and the
high profile of bicycling in Chicagoland, Cook County Treasurer Maria
Pappas (above) rode with the group from 31st St. and the Lakefront to
downtown, duly noted by the press. Bike the Vote departed from New Haven
, CT on June 20, and will finish in Portland, OR on Patriot's Day, September
11. More at bikethevote.org.
"I think I'll back off for a little
bit and ride my bike." Citizen astronaut
Mike Melville, after piloting his privately funded rocketship SpaceShipOne
to sub-ortibal altitude on June 21.
Bike Traffic is
published by the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, a nonprofit, volunteer
advocacy organization that is improving the quality of life in Northeastern
Illinois by making cycling safer, more convenient, and more fun. All material
that isn't copyrighted may be reprinted. Advertising rates available on
request.
Managing Editor
Steve
Buchtel
Editors
Robert Sadowsky
Dan Korman
David Callahan
Hedy Helfand
Layout
Steve Buchtel
Copyright
2004, Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
650 S. Clark, Ste. 300, Chicago, Ill. 60605
Ph: 312/427-3325 Fax: 312/427-4907 E-mail:
