Tag Archives: Advocacy

Safe access to Chicago River Trail advances in 2018

Dec 20, 2018 | by Steve Simmons

The city made exciting progress towards a continuous Chicago River Trail in 2018 with projects breaking ground that'll add 2.6 miles to the growing river trail network.The projects include a new trail at Lathrop Homes, the 312 RiverRun (pictured) and Manor Greenway.As wonderful as these projects are, trails are only useful if neighborhood residents can access them safely and easily.For the past year, our campaign for a continuous Chicago River Trail worked with residents and decision makers in many neighborhoods to advance safe east-west connections for people walking and biking.Along the South Branch, a new vision emerged for better walking and biking in Pilsen, Bridgeport, Brighton Park and McKinley Park. The largest remaining gap in the river trail is a five-mile...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Chicago South Side, Walking

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New flyover section makes trail safer

Dec 20, 2018 | by Ted Villaire

For decades, people biking, walking and running on the Lakefront Trail have had to face cars whizzing by and poor sight lines at extremely busy street crossings near Navy Pier. Now, thanks to the partial opening of one the most talked about infrastructure projects in Chicago, people on the trail can avoid the most dangerous, confusing part of the Lakefront Trail. The addition of a temporary trail connection to the sidewalk on Lower Lake Shore Drive means that people can now use the Navy Pier Flyover to bypass the intersections of Grand and Illinois Avenues. The newly finished Navy Pier Flyover section will be a big improvement, and more importantly, it moves the project one step closer to full completion...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Lakefront Trail, Walking

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A transportation agenda for next mayor, city council

Dec 14, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

A coalition of 15 community-based organizations joined Active Trans in asking candidates for mayor and city council to support a set of policies that will make it safer and easier to walk, bike and ride transit in neighborhoods across Chicago. The Active Transportation Agenda for Chicago describes how the city's leaders can support policies and projects over the next four years that better connect all residents to jobs, schools, parks, healthcare and other daily destinations. Active Trans and 15 partner organizations sent a letter to candidates for mayor and alderman urging them to support three top priorities from the agenda: Dedicate a $20 million Bike Walk Fund in the city budget for biking and walking projects Establish a 50 percent discounted CTA, Metra and...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Chicago South Side, Chicago West & Southwest Side, Walking

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Despite improvements, hopes dashed for protected bike lanes on Milwaukee Ave.

Dec 5, 2018 | by Jim Merrell

Newly unveiled plans for the once-in-a-generation reconstruction of Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square feature many exciting improvements for walking, biking, and transit. However, they fail to provide kind of transformative change needed to create safer streets that prioritize people over cars, particularly for people on bikes. In an all-too-familiar story, community concerns about reallocating street space from car parking to protected bike lanes resulted in a watered-down proposal that does not seem destined to move the needle on Chicago’s harmful habit of car dependence. We are encouraging the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) to go back to the drawing board and work closely with community members and other city agencies to create a more comprehensive plan to improve the street...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Walking

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Bikes finish first in Northwest Side multimodal race

Nov 14, 2018 | by Julia Gerasimenko

Chicago residents often talk about how riding a bike is the quickest way to get around the city’s most congested streets. Well, a recent race in Portage Park proved it. The Six Corners Association and Active Trans recently hosted a Multiple Modes of Transportation Race from the Six Corners intersection of Cicero Avenue, Irving Park Road and Milwaukee Avenue to the Irving Park Blue Line Station and back during the afternoon rush. The "racecourse" was one mile each way. Race contenders are pictured in the photo here. 45th Ward Alderman John Arena (in blue coat) finished first while using a Divvy bike (hurray for Divvy!), and was closely followed by the participant on his own bike. The bus rider finished...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side

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Bike Walk Fund needed in Illinois

Nov 9, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

The results of the state elections are in and now it’s time for Illinois’ new leaders to get to work building a healthier, more sustainable and equitable transportation network. Illinois hasn’t passed a long-term plan to fund the state’s transportation infrastructure since 2009, and that has contributed to an $19.4 billion maintenance backlog for the region’s transit agencies. Making matters worse, the state cut transit funding in the 2017 and 2018 budgets. We also know that the state spends virtually none of its own funds on dedicated biking and walking infrastructure, relying instead on a relatively small amount of federal bike/walk dollars that comes nowhere close to meeting the needs. During the primary election season in February, Active Trans published...

Tags: Advocacy, biking, Walking

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Shared bus-bike lane to pilot on Halsted

Oct 30, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) are testing a new shared bus-bike lane concept during the reconstruction of the Chicago Avenue bridge. Starting Thursday, November 1, the city is closing Chicago Avenue between Larrabee and Halsted Streets to demolish and reconstruct the bridge over the Chicago River. The closure is expected to last three months. During this period, all 66 Chicago buses will be re-routed to Division Street via Larrabee Street and Halsted Street back to Chicago Avenue. While on Halsted, buses will travel in shared curbside bus-bike lanes that will be separated from car and truck traffic with plastic posts. See a full map of the detour route. The 66 Chicago bus is the...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side

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Chicago bus report cards show great need for upgrades

Oct 25, 2018 | by Julia Gerasimenko

Chicagoans are abandoning their city's buses at alarming rates. Why? The answer is made clear in Chicago’s first-ever Bus Friendly Streets Report Cards.   Data in the newly-released report cards shows bus speed and reliability on the decline because buses routinely get stuck in traffic and at red lights. Active Trans developed the report cards using publicly available bus tracker data from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). See report cards for all 50 Chicago wards and eight of the city's high-ridership routes at www.activetrans.org/busreportcards. The letter grades are based on bus speed, bus bunching and wait time. How many of each letter grade was handed out to the 50 wards? A – 1 ward B – 8 wards C – 20 ward D –...

Tags: Advocacy

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Support walking and biking on Logan Boulevard

Oct 22, 2018 | by Steve Simmons

Ask people who've walked, biked or driven on Logan Blvd. from Rockwell St. to Lathrop Homes on Diversey Ave. and they'll tell you it's a dangerous, high-stress experience. The stakes for fixing Logan to Lathrop couldn't be higher. A continuous 27-mile Chicago River Trail is coming to fruition, including a new trail at Lathrop and projects like the 312 RiverRun Trail and Manor Greenway. The growing network of riverfront trails is only useful if it's safely and easily accessible to neighborhood residents. This stretch is a high-crash area that limits access to the retail corridor surrounding Elston Avenue. It includes the notorious Logan and Western Ave. intersection under the Kennedy Expressway, where people are asked to cross several lanes of...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Walking

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Survey results show broad support for platform ideas

Oct 22, 2018 | by W. Robert Schultz III

The call for a dedicated Bike-Walk Fund of $20 million in Chicago’s annual budget received the strongest support among respondents to a recent survey of Active Trans supporters and allies. The survey is part of Active Trans’ Walk and Roll the Vote Campaign, which educates candidates and voters about the city’s most pressing transportation issues. Active Trans is working with community partners from across the city to develop a game-changing transportation platform for the 2019 elections. The survey is one way we are collecting input and feedback on the platform, along with more than 35 one-on-one meetings with community-based organizations and two public Transportation Dialogue events held last August. There were more than 500 responses from all areas of the...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Walking

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