Chicago’s Disinvested in West Side Biking Infrastructure Rolls On
Bike lane on Lake and Kedzie below Kedzie Green Line stop. Photo by Aja Beckham
The city of Chicago boasted in an April 2019 press release that two-thirds of the city has access to rental bikes through its partnership with Divvy, however, based on the cycling giant’s community investment to date West Side residents are still waiting for their opportunity to ride like everyone else.
When the Chicago Department of Transportation first announced the roll-out of Divvy bikes in the summer 2013, 75 neighborhood stations and 750 bikes hit the streets with minimal details shared as to which neighborhoods throughout the city would have access to bikes. Today, Chicago's downtown, North Side, and even Evanston are priority locations for Divvy stations which according to their website covers more than 100 square miles, making it the largest bike share system based on service area in North America. According to Kaitlyn Carl, Divvy communications manager, by 2021, Divvy will have 16,500 bikes and more than 800 stations on the street city-wide.
Based on the dots alone one can see where the city has invested in Divvy in the last 7 years.
However, neighborhoods such as Austin, Galewood, the western area of Humboldt Park, Belmont Cragin, and Hermosa don’t have a significant number of Divvy bike stations, if any at all. And when looking at North Side neighborhoods like River North, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, and West Loop the contrast is even more stark.
Under a plan finalized in 2019, Divvy is expanding throughout Chicago with plans to add 175 stations and 10,500 electric bikes by 2021. However, at the current rate of expansion, when Divvy celebrates its’10 year anniversary in 2023 much of the West Side will still appear to be underserved.
Carl commented, "Divvy is still working with the City of Chicago and aldermen to determine where stations will be placed and therefore, haven't yet announced neighborhoods that are included in the expansion. We are committed to growing the Divvy bike share system on Chicago's South and West Sides."
In fact, Divvy does offer interested riders an opportunity to suggest where a new station should be located on its’ website. But Ald. David Moore (17th Ward), one of many advocating for better biking infrastructure on the Southwest of Chicago, said his suggestion for bike station in Marquette Park was ignored.
"When the city wanted to put Divvy bikes in the 17th Ward, the first thing I said was to put them in Chicago Lawn. Yet, they put stations in Englewood, on 69th and Ashland, and it turned out to be a terrible location,” said Moore. “It would've worked better in Marquette Park in Chicago Lawn."
Much of the Southwest of Chicago is without Divvy bikes as well.
Chicago Lawn, Brighton Park, West Lawn, and Gage Park are among Southwest Side neighborhoods without Divvy bike stations, according to the system map.
Lyft and Uber was contacted for a statement on scooter share route improvements, specifically on the West Side, but did not respond before deadline.
The disinvestment of the West Side’s cycling infrastructure extends beyond just the number of bikes, but also includes overall safety for riders.
Though Chicago is nationally recognized as one of the best cities for cyclists in multiple publications, one West Side alderman has a different point of view.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward), a member of City Council’s Transportation and Public Way Committee, said throughout Chicago the city has increased the size of bike lanes, decreased the size of medians, so that bikers can have a lane to travel safely in both directions. However, he acknowledges there is a need for safety improvements on Lake Street. Lake Street is home to Chicago Transit Authority’s westbound Green Line stations which are elevated above street level.
Lake Street is also one of the few designated bike lanes on the West Side.
"I used to drive down Lake Street many years ago but stopped because of the number of accidents,” Taliaferro said. “If looking at safe route for bikes and scooter share, as we should, that's one [Lake Street] that needs to be worked on. As I see it, Lake is not a safe route for cyclists."
Long-time Oak Park resident, Curt Warner, 56, owner of Bikefix, Inc.,says Lake Street is the most common route from Oak Park to downtown Chicago.
“Though a designated biking route, there's a false sense of security. Lake Street lanes don't get cleaned, and there's a lot of glass in the bike lanes. Also, drivers have their phones in their hands at every light. For a cyclist, that means death," said Warner.
Reports of car-cyclist and car-pedestrian accidents along Lake Street are becoming more frequent. Streetsblog Chicago reported multiple accident occurrences in an article titled, Hit-and-Run Drivers Killed 2 Pedestrians and a Cyclist in Chicago in the Past Week. The article explains, in 2019, on the 4500 block of West Lake Street in West Garfield Park, Richard Williams, 56, while riding a mountain bike was killed by a hit-and-run driver.
West Side researchers are developing plans in response to accidents and safety concerns.
On the evening of Monday, Jan. 17, 2020, Taliaferro hosted a Ward Night where Judith Alexander, Chair of North Avenue District, Inc., a non-profit working since 2013 to revitalize developments on North Avenue spanning from N. Austin Ave. to Harlem Ave., attended to discuss proposals and plans for improving roads for drivers, bikers, and pedestrians.
Alexander, who brought a blueprint of the proposal on Traffic Safety & Mobility Study on North Avenue, scheduled to become public in May, said "far side bump-outs, smart signalization, a series of green lights and strategic red light areas will help drivers slow down and result in pedestrian and cyclist safety, especially during rush hour.”