The city plans to overhaul a mile-long section of Division Street over Goose Island with new bridges, protected bike lanes and more left-turn lanes. But bikers expressed concerns about how some of the proposals would affect their safety.
The project, expected to last over the next two years, aims to address the deterioration of two bridges — one on Division Street and the other on Chicago Avenue. The project will improve vehicular and pedestrian access, while providing bicycle accommodations.
“Now would be the time to develop a structure that meets Complete Streets standards and is kind of the gold standard of what a bikeable bridge in this case can be,” said Dave Simmons, the executive director of Ride Illinois.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Complete Streets are streets designed and operated to enable safe use and support mobility for all users. Those include people of all ages and abilities, regardless of whether they are driving, walking, cycling, or using public transportation.
The Chicago Department of Transportation previously outlined plans to improve bikeability by adding 150 miles of new and upgraded bikeways. Of Chicago’s 4,000 miles of streets, one-tenth have protected bike lanes, neighborhood greenways, off-street trails or other on-street bikeways, the agency said.
The city proposes adding concrete-protected bike lanes along the section of Division Street that currently does not have any. These lanes would connect to the existing bike network on Clybourn Avenue, Halsted Street and Elston Avenue, CDOT said.
“The project includes many improvements to enhance safety for people using modes of transportation, including pedestrian refuge islands, traffic signal modernization, wider sidewalks, new bike lanes, improved lighting and more,” CDOT said in a statement.
Paths along the new bridges will have buffered bike lanes. Alex Perez, a representative of Active Transportation Alliance, said that without concrete barriers, safety remains a concern.
Perez suggested guardrails as an alternative, which he said offer better physical protection from vehicles steering into the bike lane.
There will also be pavement markings with symbols and arrows to delineate bike lanes across intersections. Pavement markings will be green to reinforce biker priority, according to a CDOT presentation from a community meeting.
“Visibility does help,” Perez said. “It makes it clear for drivers where the bike lane is.”
Biking advocates also raised concerns about potential collisions with proposed traffic lanes. Kyle Lucas, a representative of Better Streets Chicago, said the transition lane from Division Street to Elston Avenue is “unacceptable” because drivers take a “wide, sweeping turn,” instead of a tighter one.
“It honestly feels like deja vu,” Lucas said. “We just had to have some very similar conversations like this around the Chicago and Halsted intersection.”
To offer input on the project, Chicagoans can email the CDOT by April 26.