The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) facilitated a meeting Tuesday night surrounding its plans for streetscaping and reengineering the easternmost section of Roosevelt Road. The undisputed centerpiece of the thoroughfare's redesign from State to Indiana is a block-and-a-half of raised and landscaped two-way bicycling infrastructure, a first for the city (the Dearborn bikeway isn't raised or particularly well buffered). Streetsblog Chicago's Kristen Maddox and John Greenfield, the vanguard of alternative transportation advocacy, present a nice recap of the plans.
Basically, this is a trial run for world class bike lane design— something we could see a lot more of in Chicago pending this project's success. The main reason the segregated bikeway is so short is that Roosevelt is a state road and IDOT isn't thinking about cyclists as much as drivers. Further extension in either direction would mean cutting into vehicular capacity. Even with such truncation, the rendered design still faces potential stumbling blocks: a circuitous route to the lake; overflowing sidewalks before and after Bears games; limitations to allowable pavement markings (thanks again, IDOT); and a "two-stage crossing" for eastbound cyclists at the start of the bikeway. Existing striped bike lanes west of Wabash will be keep their configuration but will be painted that telltale bright green. Click through to Streetsblog for more.
·CDOT Reveals Plans for Chicago's First Raised Bike Lane on Roosevelt Road [Streetsblog Chicago]
·Infrastructure Watch [Curbed Chicago]
·CDOT [official]
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