Critical Mass Chicago

 One of the reasons parents cited for driving their kids to school was that roads are too dangerous for them to ride. Yet in many cities bike infrastructure has vastly improved with even more rigorous plans for protected bike plans coming on-line.

Urban planners are prioritizing bike lanes, whether shared lanes, striped bike lanes, buffered or protected bike lanes (ones totally separate from car traffic). In Chicago the non-profit Active Transportation Alliance advocates on behalf of cyclists for street safety and more visible, efficient greenways. ATA fought to improve the lakefront bike trail, separating it into two paths where possible, one for pedestrians and one for cyclists. There is now a flyover on the most congested section of the path around the Navy Pier area. More and more bike trails and lanes are being constructed. On Milwaukee Avenue for example the lanes are painted green so that drivers can readily see and be alert to cyclists before turning right. There are even in some intersections bike boxes that encourage riders to come forward. It is way safer for the cyclist to be ahead of the traffic when the light changes. A good friend of mine was witness to a horrible accident when at an intersection a young woman waited off to the right for the light to change while a multi-axle truck decided to make a right turn on red. His back wheels rolled over the cyclist (whom he couldn’t see out of his mirror as she was in his blind spot), crushing and killing her. 

Yet, overall, streets are becoming safer for commuters. There has been an increased focus on bike ways and safer streets in underserved neighborhoods that can tend to lack reliable sidewalks and street lights. The City of Chicago’s on-street bike network consists of over 248 miles of protected bike lanes, buffered bike lanes, conventional bike lanes, dashed/advisory lanes, marked shared lanes, and neighborhood bike routes. https://chicagocompletestreets.org/streets/bikeways/

Chicago’s transportation department oversees all transportation solutions, including bike-share systems (as well as scooters).  In addition the use of e-bikes promises to turn more drivers into riders.

National Bike Month is May. Active Transport Alliance along with the City of Chicago sponsors Bike to Work Week—which is actually two weeks—along with National Bike to Work Day, usually in May. Groups are working to enact National Bike to School Day the second week of May. Some downtown businesses have secure bike storage for their cycle commuting employees as well as shower and change rooms with lockers. All this is making it easier to make the choice to ride to work.

 Chicago officially and unofficially supports several mass rides. One is scheduled around Memorial Day weekend when Lake Shore Drive is shut down and cyclists take to the road. Close to 30,000 register to ride a 15-mile stretch of the historic drive bordering the lakefront with the city skyline to the other side. The event is a great start the summer. The other mass ride is Critical Mass—more of a circus on two wheels where a community of outliers/outlaws(?) get together monthly to take over city streets. No one seems to care. I’ve heard them go by my building on a Friday night, whistles totting and bells jingling, bike lights blinking. There is no right or wrong way to Critical Mass; they seem to take everyone from grandparents to the guy with dreadlocks down to his butt, on everything from recumbents to homemade, welded tall bikes.

Neon bike vests and light systems enhance rider visibility. During the summer bike cops troll the lakefront path and other areas issuing warnings to riders who ride without lights and a helmet.

Albeit safer, there are still unfortunately way too many bike deaths. On a daily I pass ghost bikes. Ghost bikes are memorials dedicated to a cyclist killed in action. Old bikes are painted white and chained up where the fatality occurred. Those passing recognize the ghost bike and are reminded that more than two people are killed every day due to bike accidents.