Going postal again: CDOT replaces bollards along the Kinzie bike lanes

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Spring 2011: original post configuration as seen from the top of “Fudge Hill” – photo by Josh Koonce.

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Early May 2012: CDOT has taken out most of the bollards.

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June 1, 2012: Some of the bollards have been reinstalled.

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) recently removed more that half of the flexible posts along the Kinzie Street protected bike lanes. Last month CDOT Project Manager Mike Amsden explained to me that this was done partly because of complaints from nearby residents about the appearance of the bollards.

Continue reading Going postal again: CDOT replaces bollards along the Kinzie bike lanes

Infographics show CTA’s operating revenues and where fares go

The Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Abogo project, to inform people across the country about the link between their housing and transportation costs, created two infographics that show the source of the Chicago Transit Authority’s funds for operating, as well as how your $2.25 is divvied.

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Provided by Center for Neighborhood Technology

This infographic shows the funding sources for the CTA’s 2012 estimated operating budget. The CTA is required by state law to obtain 50% of its operating revenues from fares, but it appears that won’t be the case. The “Statutory Required Contribution” comprises the City of Chicago’s $3 million and Cook County’s $2 million.  Continue reading Infographics show CTA’s operating revenues and where fares go

Calling 311 to report dangerous taxicab drivers works

Taxi driver I testified against

The taxi driven by the man who harassed me and against whom I testified in an administrative hearing.

This is the story of my being harassed by a taxi driver while cycling in downtown Chicago the day before Thanksgiving in November 2011. I was riding from Grant Park to meet my mother and sister for lunch at Xoco (449 N Clark). It’s also a set of loose instructions on curbing car culture.

The article is divided into three sections: the incident, the hearing, and the results. I am not revealing the taxi driver’s name or cab number: he’s already had his hearing and received due process; additionally, he may not always drive the same cab number. On the day of the incident, November 25, 2011, he leased his cab from the Chicago Carriage Cab Corp.

If you feel unsafe from the behaviors of a taxi driver, call 311 immediately after composing yourself and ask to file a complaint against a taxicab driver. You must have the time, location, and taxi number. If your immediate safety is threatened, call 911 first.

Incident

This is the description I submitted to the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, who regulate public chauffeurs.  Continue reading Calling 311 to report dangerous taxicab drivers works

Grid Shots: Transportation workers

Transportation workers, working. They work in all kinds of environments. Right now (er, this month) in Chicago, workers are designing, engineering, constructing, and planning for new train stations (a new station opened last month, Cermak is next), new bikeways, highways (Elgin-O’Hare Expressway will be getting a little closer to O’Hare), and putting new ‘L’ trains into service (those 5000-series cars that disappeared for a while are slowly coming back after repairing their defects).

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A CTA employee assists the 2008 tour of the Chicago ‘L’ during the American Association of Geographers conference.

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CDOT staff Mike Amsden and Scott Kubly at a public meeting in Hyde Park; I believe he’s explaining bike sharing.  Continue reading Grid Shots: Transportation workers

Fatality tracker: Person pinned between building wall and car dies

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Photo by Drew Baker. 

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 7 (5 have been from hit-and-run crashes, 1 was struck by a train, and the 7th is described here)
Pedalcyclist: 0
Transit: 5

I wonder if this kind of crash would have been prevented if curbs were taller. From the Chicago Tribune:

A 63-year-old woman died after getting pinned against a currency exchange wall by a car whose driver accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the brake, police said.

[Carol Divincenzo] was hit at the corner of 67th Street and Pulaski Road about 9:25 p.m., police said. [67th Street is also known as Marquette Road.]

The driver, also a woman in her 60s, is in custody but not expected to face criminal charges, police said. She may be cited for not having insurance and striking a pedestrian but police said she was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Continue reading Fatality tracker: Person pinned between building wall and car dies

How would you change the expressways in Chicago?

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The Bronzeville Gateway that’s hidden or shrouded on its north side by the Stevenson Expresway. Photo by Curtis Locke. 

The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) asked an unusual question on its Facebook page on Friday:

The Chicago area has a lot of expressways. In recent years, more new expressways have been built. If you were given as much money as you needed and were given the green light to implement any plans for the expressway system, what would you do?

Yesterday I was reading an article on Streets.MN, a land use and transportation blog, about removing urban highways in the Twin Cities (Minnapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota):

If the Twin Cities were to rid themselves of one highway, what one would it be? Or, what segment of one highway could be removed?

It noted that highways around the country have been removed over the past couple of decades, including the conversion of two elevated highways in San Francisco to boulevards (each was damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989). It also linked to this list of 10 highway removal projects that may happen in the near future.

Then also on Friday, Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) president John Norquist (whom we interviewed in November 2011) presented a paper with Caitlin Ghoshal (also from CNU) titled “Freeways Without Futures: Possibilities for Urban Freeway Removal in Chicago“.

This white paper examines factors that make Chicago’s I-55/Lake Shore Drive and Ohio Street candidates for urban freeway removal.

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A 15-minute video of Norquist’s presentation at the Transport Chicago conference. 

I went back to the interview to find out what he had said about I-55 – Stevenson Expressway – and Ohio Street feeder ramp on the Kennedy Expressway:

The city collects no money from the Stevenson [whereas it collects taxes from retail-filled streets], and the buildings that are along it are depressed in value because it’s there. If the Stevenson east of I-94 was converted to a street more like Congress, a boulevard that connects to the street grid, that would add a lot of value to the city.

[…]

That’s until you get to Ohio, where the traffic engineers had their way and rammed a grade-separated highway all the way up to Orleans, which suppresses the property value all along it until you get to Orleans. So anything like [turning the Stevenson east of I-94 into a boulevard] will create the kind of urban complexity that people like.

I liked that idea so I responded with a brief answer on the MPC’s Facebook page:

We would replace the I-55/Lake Shore Drive connection with a boulevard so that the northern entrance to Bronzeville at King Drive is no longer in the shadow of a monstrous viaduct.

We would also convert the Ohio Street feeder ramp that connects the Kennedy to River North and points beyond with a similar boulevard so that traffic is calmer.

How would you respond to MPC’s original question about changing expressways in Chicago?

Updated June 4, 2012, at 16:55 to embed the video of Norquist’s freeways presentation from June 1, 2012.