Road safety must be a citywide initiative, not dictated ward by ward.
A bicyclist travels in a protected bike lane on Milwaukee Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood Oct. 2, 2020. Editor’s note: We asked readers who are cyclists to tell us about their experiences on city streets and to share their thoughts about Chicago’s bike infrastructure. Here is a selection of those letters. We will publish more in Saturday’s edition.
Chicago’s bike infrastructure is slowly growing but unfortunately is quite fragmented due to aldermanic prerogative. It can be frustrating going to the grocery store, and, all the sudden, there’s no bike lane. Imagine if random stretches of our city were dirt roads with no stoplights or road lines; in a bustling place like Chicago, chaos should not be the goal.
The alternative is to take what Google Maps optimistically calls “bicycle-friendly” streets, such as Argyle Street and Kimball Avenue. Hah! Between navigating around the ubiquitous potholes that make up Chicago streets, contending with people exiting parked cars and competing with CTA buses, cyclists routinely face potential accidents in which they will undoubtedly come out the worst.
Many cyclists, including those who live in the suburbs, prefer to ride to destinations in Chicago, but we do so knowing the trip will be fraught with danger because of the lack of bicycle-friendly routes and infrastructure in the city.Bicyclists ride along Columbus Drive on Sept. 22, 2022. I have used a bicycle for transportation since childhood. I am now a 40-year-old father of two toddlers, and my bicycle is still my main mode of transportation.
There is a long way to go, but I am hopeful that we will realize the error that we made when we gave our cities over to the automobile. Walking, biking and transit should be the de facto modes of transportation for most trips in our city.Beautiful and scary experience
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