Bike Traffic - November 2006

November 2006

Suburbs Look for Help with Bicycle Facilities
New opportunities and projects

The City of Chicago has achieved levels of bicycle accommodation that set it apart from other large American cities; and now several suburbs have followed suit by planning or considering facilities to make their communities bike-friendly.

Let’s have a look at some of what’s been happening in the region:

North

Persistent efforts by theChicagoland Bicycle Federation and by committed cyclists and open space advocates resulted in progress on converting abandoned Union Pacific right-of-way to a Skokie Valley trail from Lake Cook Road to Chicago through Northbrook, Northfield, Glenview, Wilmette, Skokie and Lincolnwood. Four of the suburbs have committed $32,000 for a preliminary feasibility study. Skokie's plan is already complete.

The City of Evanston is considering a contract to install 150 new bike racks to complement the already planned system of shared bike lanes. The bike lane plan is being revised and detail design completed as required by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

In Wilmette, major improvements are planned for a popular cycling route. The village plans bike lanes and new pedestrian crossings for Sheridan Road. Construction will take about 18 months, starting next spring.

West

DuPage County is working with several entities to install more racks for bicycle parking over the next two years. The county has received a Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Grant for this $200,000 project to install about 450 bike racks and 50 bike lockers in the area. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation helped write the grant and developed the program.

Deborah Fagan, DuPage’s chief planner and county trail system coordinator, views the parking plan as a concrete way to encourage people to ride their bicycles. “We are interested in continuing to promote bicycling as a transportation alternative; and providing facilities such as convenient parking is essential to that effort,” Fagan said.

Two years ago CBF’s advocacy brought to Oak Park the Bicycling Ambassador program that proved so successful for the City of Chicago. Now Oak Park has a bicycle plan in the works.

The village’s public works department has proposed funding a bicycle plan in its 2007 budget. If approved, the village will enter into a contract with a consultant to develop a plan for the village.

Oak Park Public Works Director John Wielebnicki sees the approval of a bike plan as essential to the promotion of cycling in the village. “The village needs a bike plan that will provide it with innovative measures to increase cycling in the community, to focus the efforts of the village staff and to reflect the desire of the community to make Oak Park more bike-friendly,” he said.

Sometimes advocacy brings about reverberations of change and the demand for facilities. With the help of CBF West Suburban Coordinator Pamela Brookstein, Forest Park introduced a Shop By Bike initiative two years ago. It led to the village’s installation of six new bike racks.

Northwest

Connecting Roselle with Schaumburg is a goal the Village of Roselle is reaching with the help of CBF. Northwest Suburban Coordinator Jim McDermott is coordinating the planning and grant applications for an off-road bike path connecting the two communities along Rodenburg Road. The portion from Busse Woods to Bartlett is now complete.

CBF also has been providing technical assistance to the Roselle Bicycle Advisory Council to write a plan that articulates desired additions and upgrades to the community’s bicycle network.

Southland

A network of bike lanes and signed routes and an innovative marketing plan are the main features of a bike plan the south suburban Village of Homewood approved in October.

As in such municipalities as Evanston and Chicago, where CBF has assisted in facilities planning, the plan for Homewood was based in part on planning exercises with residents and hearings that allowed the public to address village staff and trustees directly.

With this guidance, CBF spent more than a year fashioning a plan for signage, street markings, bike racks and traffic signal improvements along routes thatstretch from Governors Highway on the west, 175th Street on the north, Halsted on the east and 187th Street on the south. Critical spots such as the 183rd Street viaduct are slated for improvements that will make them safe for bicycling.

"I like this plan and I think we should get other communities involved to extend these trails to the trails that people want to go on," Homewood Trustee Ray Robertson told the Chicago Tribune.

The village is hoping the bulk of the $200,000 project will be paid for with federal grants. Homewood would pick up about 20 percent of the tab.

Contributing to this report were: Norbert Budde, Nick Jackson Pamela Brookstein, Jim McDermott and Claire Micklin